This weekend (Sat. March 2, 2019) one of the biggest UFC cards of the year will take place. UFC 235 goes down from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Two title fights sit atop the card. UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones defends his strap against Anthony Smith. Also, welterweight king Tyron Woodley defends against Kamaru Usman. However, one fight that might be getting slightly overlooked is the debut of Ben Askren.
The former ONE and Bellator welterweight champion will have his first fight under the UFC banner. He’ll be taking on ex-170-pound king Robbie Lawler. Speaking to media this week ahead of the bout, “Funky” is feeling very confident heading into his clash with “Ruthless”. He went as far as saying, if he gets ahold of Lawler, the former champion doesn’t have much hope of winning (via MMA Junkie):
“I think the opening minutes are critical because Robbie is a fighter who can do a lot of damage quick, and he’s known to come out fast and he fights in sprints,” Askren said. “So coming out and establishing the way I want the fight to be fought is super important. I think it’s about me imposing my will.
“Closing distance, not taking big punches and getting a hold of him. It’s as simple as that. Once I get ahold of him, man, I don’t think he’s got much of a hope.”
Askren is currently undefeated in his fighting career. Lawler is more than capable of changing that this weekend, as he has proven to be one of the most vicious finishers the division has ever seen. He’s hoping to avoid his first back-to-back losses since 2011. In his last outing, Lawler suffered a unanimous decision loss to Rafael dos Anjos.
Perhaps Lawler will get back in the win column by ending Askren’s perfect run in MMA.
What do you think about Askren claiming Lawler doesn’t have much hope once he gets ahold of him?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn7SdCgpvew
