[MERIT]

So, I want to talk about Ben Askren for a minute.

The dude is undefeated [18-0]. World Champion in multiple professional MMA organizations. 2-time NCAA Champion. He is a former Olympian. As a fighter, he virtually NEVER gets hit and ALWAYS wins. And the UFC has wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with him up until this point!

So, here is how the UFC f*cked him [according to Askren, via the Joe Rogan podcast].

He is the Bellator Welterweight Champion, undefeated at 12-0, and his contract expires. So, he is a free agent. About 3 months into his free agency, the UFC calls him and says that they are interested. They tell him to cut all ties with Bellator and they will give him a contract. So, he burns his bridge at Bellator, the second largest MMA organization in the U.S.

So, he then contacts the UFC, and they offer him a contract, but say that he has to do 1 fight for the WSOF [World Series Of Fighting] first, which I guess was also under the Zuffa banner. It's weird, but he agrees. A few hours later, the UFC calls him and revokes the offer. The next day, Dana White publicly says that the UFC is not interested in Ben Askren.

So now, Askren has no contract with the UFC and burned his bridge with Bellator, so he is out of a job and is forced to go overseas to fight [He signs with One Championship out of Singapore, Asia's largest MMA organization]. You can't tell me that Dana White didn't deliberately do that to try to f*ck over Ben Askren.