4 Potential opponents for Ben Askren in the UFC
On October 25, 2018, Noted MMA Journalist Ariel Helwani broke the news that the UFC and One Fighting Championship are closer to finalizing what could the first ever trade-off in the world of Mixed Martial Arts.
The tradeoff would see former UFC Flyweight Champion and one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the UFC, Demetrious ' Mighty Mouse' Johnson to go to the Singapore-based promotion while the former ONE Welterweight Champion Ben Askren would finally be arriving in the UFC.
Although DJ has confirmed his ONE Championship links and had a press conference yesterday, the UFC is yet to release a statement confirming the trade-off and Askren's signing with the company as of this writing.
As expected, this news has resulted in a huge storm in the world of Mixed Martial Arts. Askren is one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport to have never fought in the UFC and fans have been wanting to see the undefeated fighter step into the octagon for years.
Ever since the announcement by Helwani, Askren has been on a tirade targeting a multitude of UFC Stars such as Darren Till, Nick and Nate Diaz, Georges St-Pierre and Khabib Nurmagamedov.
While the deal is still not set in stone and we will wait for a few days till more details emergence, this has undoubtedly grabbed the attention of MMA fans all around the world. If the deal is finally inked, here are four fighters that we would like Askren to face once he officially signs with the UFC:
#4 Darren Till
One of the first victims of Askren's Twitter tirade was the once-undefeated Bantamweight contender, Darren Till. Till's last fight was against Tyron Woodley in the main event of UFC 228 where he lost via submission in the second record.
This was the Englishman's first loss in the world of MMA after he had been on a four-match winning streak. Interestingly, Askren is a longtime friend and teammate of Tyron Woodley as they both train in Milwaukee, Wisconsin under renowned coach, Duke Roufus.
Askren vs Till is an interesting matchup as it will be a clash of styles. While Till is one of the best Muay Thai specialists on the UFC roster who uses roundhouse kicks aplenty in all of his matches, Askren is renowned for his wrestling and has the ability to take down opponents quickly and finish them off.
What makes the prospect of this match even more interesting is the fact that Till was undefeated only a month ago until he was involved in a fight which even the bookers couldn't predict. Given how talented and high-skilled both these men are, expect nothing but fireworks if these two men do battle inside the octagon in the near future.