UFC News: Ben Askren keen on facing Darren Till upon UFC debut
What's the story?
Now that veteran fighter Ben Askren has finally signed with the UFC after all these years, the former one-time ONE Welterweight Champion has laid out a plan for his debut fight upon his eventual arrival to the UFC in the form of Darren Till.
In case you didn't know...
Ben Askren made his professional MMA debut on the 7th of February, 2009 in a winning effort against Josh Flowers, who was defeated via TKO very early into the first round of the fight. Askren, who is also undefeated as a Professional fighter, shortly afterward made his remarkable debut for Bellator MMA, defeating Ryan Thomas via Technical Submission at Bellator 14 on the 15th of April, 2010.
After having won the Bellator Welterweight Championship, Askren also enjoyed a few successful title defenses against Jay Hieron and Douglas Lima. However, in 2013, Askren was eventually released off his Bellator contract and became an unrestricted free agent. Following his departure from Bellator, Askren signed a deal with One Championship and once again dominated the promotion's Welterweight Division, eventually going on to win the One Welterweight Title in 2014.
In a recently concluded, first-time ever historic trade between UFC and ONE, it was officially confirmed that Askren is all set to make his way to the UFC in return for former UFC Flyweight Champion, Demetrious Johnson, who after having conquered the Flyweight Division for all these years is all set for his departure from Dana White's promotion.
The heart of the matter
Prior to making his Octagon debut with the UFC, Welterweight veteran Ben Askren has seemingly targeted several top UFC Welterweights in the form of Interim Welterweight Champion, Colby Covington, and former Welterweight Title contender, Darren Till as well.
After a recent confrontation on Twitter between Askren and Till, the former has now called out the Liverpool upstart in a recent interview with MMAjunkie Radio.
“You know who I think sounds like an easy target – and I’m kind of picking him out because he sucks? It’s Darren Till. And I don’t really like him, either. So it makes it really easy that I don’t like him – I’d like to beat him up. I think he sucks, so it’d be an easy fight. He’s ranked very highly, obviously.”
Askren, who by this point has obviously realized that he will indeed not be getting a shot at former UFC Welterweight and Middleweight Champion, Georges St. Pierre, or current Lightweight Champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov right off the gate, is apparently keen on putting a show with Till instead.
What's next?
Ben Askren's Octagon debut date with the UFC is yet to be confirmed, however, with the trade between ONE and UFC almost confirmed by this point, it is safe to assume that we could very well witness Askren compete for the UFC by 2019.