UFC 235 is providing some interesting fights this weekend in Las Vegas. One of them being the promotional debut of Ben Askren. He’ll be facing former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler on the pay-per-view (PPV) card. Askren has amassed quite the fan base in his short time with the UFC before even stepping into the Octagon to fight.
However, fellow welterweight Kamaru Usman believes that fan-base will be short-lived. After seeing “Funky’s” fighting style this weekend, “The Nigerian Nightmare” believes fans will abandon the former ONE and Bellator welterweight champion (via MMA Mania):
“A lot of trolls are relating to him, that’s why he’s getting all this traction,” Usman said. “There’s a certain level of product people want to see from UFC fighters. Wait until all those trolls see his product, see if they’re gonna be behind him, especially for this fight. Everybody knows there’s a certain product you expect from Robbie Lawler.
“Robbie comes to bang, and bang your head out, one of the most incredible guys we’ve had as champion. If Ben Askren can’t go in there and deliver his game and show new wrinkles to his game, and Robbie’s just sitting there the whole time because you’re preventing him from putting out the product everybody wants to see from him.
“I think this is a lose-lose for him. He better come out and basically vanquish Robbie, which I don’t see happening.”
As for Usman, he has quite the opportunity in front of him. He’ll face Tyron Woodley for the UFC welterweight championship in the co-main event of the evening. This will be Usman’s first title opportunity of his career. Should he emerge victorious, he’d become the first-ever Nigerian-born UFC champion.
Do you think fans will abandon Askren if he presents a boring fighting style this weekend?
