Bellator president Scott Coker doesn’t sound too optimistic on the return of Ben Askren.
Askren and Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald have caused a stir on social media. The two have expressed interest in doing battle for 170-pound gold. Even Dillon Danis, who had a successful professional mixed martial arts debut last night, said he was thinking about calling out Askren.
Following Bellator 198, Askren said he wouldn’t mind facing MacDonald on the same card as Fedor Emelianenko vs. Chael Sonnen. He even proposed that the fight can be placed as the co-main event. Check out the tweet below:
I’m ok with Rory and I being co main to this fight. @BellatorMMA @ChaelSonnen https://t.co/qQfve00Zyx
— Ben Askren (@Benaskren) April 29, 2018
Despite enthusiastic social media posts, Coker revealed that things aren’t what they seem. During the Bellator 198 post-fight scrum, Coker told the media that he doesn’t get the sense that Askren wants to compete:
“Ben, I don’t really think wants to fight. I think he wants to fight one more fight and be done with it. That’s what I understand.”
Askren was last seen in action under the ONE Championship banner. He retired from MMA after successfully defending his welterweight title against Shinya Aoki. Askren soon turned his attention to Georges St-Pierre. When no movement on that end was happening, he had his sights set on MacDonald.
Askren has a professional MMA record of 18-0, 1 NC. Many consider Askren to be the best fighter outside of the UFC and Bellator. Askren was a former Bellator welterweight champion, but was released under the Bjorn Rebney era.
The list of foes Askren has defeated isn’t one to sneeze at. He’s beaten the likes of Douglas Lima, Andrey Koreshkov, and Lyman Good just to name a few. Lima and Koreshkov would end up being Bellator champions years later. Askren actually finished Koreshkov via fourth round TKO.
If Ben Askren were to sign with Bellator again, do you think he’d be able to defeat Rory MacDonald?
