In the past Dana White was lukewarm to say the least about the possibility of signing Ben Askren, but with the former Bellator and ONE FC champion now finally on-board the fighter has been discussing where he stands now with the UFC president.
“I think when when one person and another person have a disagreement, the thing you need to do, if you want to have respect for each other, is sit down and have that conversation,” Askren told MMAjunkie.
“We haven’t been able to do that so far. He’s said nice things (in) the media, but that’s also because I volunteered to do the dirty work. I volunteered to switch and be the main event against Robbie (at UFC 233), Robbie said no. I volunteered to fight ‘Marty from Nebraska’ (Kamaru Usman), ‘Marty’ said no. I volunteered to fight dumb Colby (Covington). So he sees the value in what I’m doing, so now he’s being nice.
“It’s whatever, though. What has happened in the past doesn’t just go away. Because of his position, he thinks that’s how it goes. But listen, I’m here to fight people in the cage, not be anyone’s best friend. If we develop a friendship, that’s fine. But I’m here to fight people in the cage.”
Askren will get that opportunity early in 2019, with the star set to fight former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler at UFC 235 on March 2nd in Las Vegas.
