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What's the story?
According to a report from ESPN's Ariel Helwani, UFC and ONE Championship have reportedly agreed on making a historic swap between Flyweight superstar Demetrious Johnson and veteran fighter Ben Askren.
In case you didn't know...
Ben Askren made his professional MMA debut on the 7th of February, 2009 in a winning effort against Josh Flowers, who was defeated via TKO very early into the first round of the fight. Askren, who is also undefeated as a Professional fighter, shortly afterward made his remarkable debut for Bellator MMA, defeating Ryan Thomas via Technical Submission at Bellator 14 on the 15th of April, 2010.
After having won the Bellator Welterweight Championship, Askren also enjoyed a few successful title defenses against Jay Hieron and Douglas Lima. However, in 2013, Askren was eventually released off his Bellator contract and became an unrestricted free agent. Following his departure from Bellator, Askren signed a deal with One Championship and once again dominated the promotion's Welterweight Division, eventually going on to win the One Welterweight Title in 2014.
Demetrious Johnson, meanwhile, made his UFC in 2011 after the WEC roster was merged in with the UFC roster and all fighters of the former promotion were transferred to the UFC as well.
Since making his UFC debut, DJ has dominated the Flyweight Division and after winning the UFC Flyweight Championship in 2012, Mighty Mouse made 11 successive title defenses and eventually surpassed Anderson Silva's record of 10 title defenses in the process.
However, at UFC 227, Johnson finally lost his Flyweight Title to Henry Cejudo via split decision.
The heart of the matter
According to respected MMA Journalist Ariel Helwani, a historic agreement between the UFC and ONE Championship has apparently been confirmed, as the two promotions reportedly look to make a swap between Ben Askren and in return former Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson will be headed to ONE.
According to multiple sources, there is a proposed deal on the table for the UFC to release former flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson from his contract in order to allow him to sign with ONE, and in return ONE will release former welterweight champion Ben Askren from his contract so he could finally join the UFC.
Sources say the “trade” isn’t finalized just yet, however, it has been discussed at length and is categorized by multiple sources as close to getting done. All parties involved are hopeful it will be finalized soon..
Both Johnson and Askren have multiple fights left on their respective contracts, according to sources.
Ben Askren, for one, recently also stated on Twitter that there is seemingly a 98% chance of him jumping ship to the UFC. Whereas, DJ, on the other hand, could become the latest UFC fighter to sign for ONE, after Eddie Alvarez recently penned down a contract with the promotion.
What's next?
As of right now, nothing has been confirmed just yet and only time will tell what the future holds for both Askren and DJ.
