Decorated champion Ben Askren recently retired, but it seems he could yet be lured back into the cage to settle an ongoing feud with Bellator welterweight titleholder Rory MacDonald.
A war of words was sparked between the two yesterday when MacDonald told a fan that he would be interested in the possibility of fighting the former Bellator and ONE FC welterweight champion.
“You think you could go the distance? I think I finish@you in round 3, the fight looks similar to what Condit did to you in round 3,” Askren told MacDonald after learning of his interest.
“I disagree,” MacDonald replied, and then after Askren urged him to tell Bellator CEO Scott Coker, he replied “I have asked @ScottCoker about getting you in bellator for a fight, i guess you need to do your part.”
Askren then accused them of stalling, which led to MacDonald revealing that the two already had words before.
“Woah woah you remember the day we were face to face, and i challanged you there on the spot and you put your tail between your legs and said i only fight for money and walked off,” MacDonald responded. “The only one stalling is you, if u want it to happen make a deal with bellator and im ready to go.”
“Fake news,” Askren fired back . “I approached you and I told you that you would be an easy nights work. You would be an easy nights work.”
“And then i replied to you with the challenge,” MacDonald attempted to clarify.
“Wrong as I remembered you stuttered and got red in the face,” Askren claimed. “I was coaching Pettis so I had to bounce and didn’t stick around for the reply.”
“False,” MacDonald stated. “Anyhow im about the future, not gonna dwell on you back peddling when it came down to it, do your part and sign up like a professional.”
For the record, Askren has also expressed an interest in coming out of retirement to take on superfights in the UFC against the likes of Georges St-Pierre and Khabib Nurmagomedov, but he’s always had an adversarial relationship with Dana White, so a move back to Bellator seems more likely at this stage.
