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Ben Askren was recently seen on Lex Fridman's podcast. They discussed Askren's career and how he was once a part of Joe Rogan's GOAT list but failed to meet up to the expectations everyone had for him.
Addressing his downfall, Askren said:
"I didn't prove it. I don't deserve it... So it's like had I somehow gotten to convince Dana White we go and convince him in 2013 to make me an offer. And I didn't even need a good offer, I needed any offer. Had I gotten the offer then, maybe the outcome's different, right. But given, I would never expect anyone to think of me that way. I didn't prove it. I know, I know what I was and I am good with that. And yeah, other people never got to see that."
Ben Askren later revealed that had he gone to the UFC instead of ONE Championship in 2013, he believes he would have had more success.
Check out Lex Fridman's podcast with Ben Askren below:
“We would grapple and I think I would be better than him" - Ben Askren on Khabib Nurmagomedov
Ben 'Funky' Askren is a former Bellator and ONE Championship welterweight champion with a with a 19-2-0 (1 NC) MMA record. In 2019, he announced his retirement from professional MMA.
In the interview with Lex Fridman, Ben Askren revealed he would have been a tough fight for Khabib Nurmagomedov, the retired Dagestani who happens to be one of the best grapplers in MMA history.
Speaking about 'The Eagle', Askren said:
“We would grapple and I think I would be better than him. I feel weird saying it because people, like yeah, you’re full of s**t. But no one out grappled him, nobody did. Maybe I’m wrong in this but we look at the best possible candidates. I’m definitely one of them and obviously, I have a small size advantage too... He never, unfortunately, fought any real, who I would say really, really high-level wrestlers... I would like to see how he dealt with someone who I think, oh man, this guy’s a really high-level wrestler. I just love grappling and wrestling. If someone said, hey Ben, Khabib wants to roll with you. Ok, I’m there tomorrow. Sounds like a blast.”
Check out the full podcast with Ben Askren below:
