Former ONE welterweight champion Ben Askren is now signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). That being said, the former title holder has no plans to fight reigning UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley any time soon.
UFC News
Speaking on The MMA Hour, Ben Askren revealed that he will not challenge Tyron Woodley for his title. Rather, the former ONE title holder has other plans for his run inside the octagon.
“Me and Tyron aren’t fighting, it’s simple. We are not fighting. We are not fighting — no.”
“I think there’s a lot of scenarios in which I get to prove how good I am and we don’t fight. They could create the 165, 175 [divisions]. I think that’s a possibility. It’s almost like the UFC is pushing back a little bit despite how much all the fighters realize it would be beneficial to us. If it were up to the fighters, they’d probably create that division tomorrow, right?
“Dana White said, ‘We’ll never have women fighting in UFC.’ And then they came upon a star named Ronda Rousey and damn, they created the division. Well, maybe the same thing is happening here. Maybe they don’t think Kevin Lee or Dustin Poirier is a big enough star. Sure, they’re great fighters. Maybe they’re waiting for ‘Funky’ Ben to come and get down. Maybe that’s what they’re waiting for.”
