Former Bellator champion Ben Askren has recently been talking up a potential fight with current welterweight titleholder Rory MacDonald, but it seems that Scott Coker isn’t a rush to sign him.
“Ben, I don’t really think wants to fight,” Coker said of Askren, who retired a few months ago after a long reign as ONE FC’s 170lb champion, but has since given indications that he wants to get back into the cage. “I think he wants to fight one more fight and be done with it. That’s what I understand.”
There are other potential spanners in the works, such as the fact that Askren is still technically signed to ONE FC as their champion, while meeting his financial demands could also prove to be a challenge.
As such, it seems that Coker is largely indifferent to the idea of Askren fighting MacDonald and is instead focusing on the talent he already has on the Bellator roster.
“To me, we have a lot of plans for these guys in the 170-pound weight class,” Coker said. “We’re going to keep everybody busy. We’ve got a big fight for (Michael Page) coming up in London. We’ve got a big fight for (Jon) Fitch and (Paul) Daley in San Jose on May 12.
“We’re going to keep these guys busy. I want fighters that are going to be here fighting.”
