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Welcome to today's edition of Sportskeeda MMA News Roundup! A former Bellator champ paid an emotional tribute to Ben Askren. Meanwhile, the UFC dropped the official poster for UFC 319 featuring Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev. And in a bizarre turn, B.J. Penn dragged Kayla Harrison into his spiraling online meltdown. Let's break them all down:
Corey Anderson says Ben Askren changed his life
Former UFC fighter Corey Anderson gave Ben Askren credit for the important things he built in his life. In a deeply personal reflection, the former Bellator light heavyweight champion opened up about how Askren shaped his journey, as a fighter, a husband, and a father.
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Askren saw something in Anderson back when he was just a college wrestler and gave him an invitation to train at his gym. That’s where Anderson discovered MMA and met his wife. Speaking about Askren's impact on his life in an interview with MMA Fighting, Anderson said:
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"My life wouldn’t be what it is if it wasn’t for Ben. That’s not just competing. That’s my life. I met my wife because of Ben Askren. I have two beautiful kids. I have a wife. I’ve got a fight career. It’s kind of like everything I have in an adult life, it came because of Ben Askren. Because this guy invited me to an MMA gym, and the day I walked into an MMA gym, my wife was working behind the desk that day." [H/t: MMA Fighting]
He added:
“The two people I talk to [are] Ben Askren and Eddie Alvarez. The two people that’s been in the game the longest, that are the biggest mentors to me, that can guide me in the right direction because they’ve seen it all and they’ve done it all."
UFC drops official poster for Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev
The official poster for UFC 319 just dropped, and it’s already got the MMA world talking. Dricus du Plessis will take on Khamzat Chimaev on August 16 in an attempt to make the third defense of his middleweight throne.
Du Plessis is coming off a dominant unanimous decision win over Sean Strickland at UFC 312. Meanwhile, Chimaev returns to action following a first-round submission win against former titleholder Robert Whittaker.
Check out the poster below:
B.J. Penn makes bizzare claims about Kayla Harrison
UFC women's bantamweight queen Kayla Harrison got caught in the crossfire of B.J. Penn's latest meltdown. The UFC legend, who’s battled a string of legal issues and public outbursts, posted a series of Instagram rants accusing Harrison of skirting weigh-in rules and drug testing.
Harrison has spoken candidly about how draining her UFC 316 win was. She even admitted to considering retirement the night before the fight. Penn took to Instagram and wrote:
"We live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task of life is finding reality! [It] is what it is. The masked c***s don’t have to take a drug test or weigh in. What an advantage that is."
Check out the Instagram post below:
