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Despite White's misgivings, Askren met with UFC officials in Las Vegas in late-November, in one last attempt to reach an agreement."Do you think he acts like he wants to sit down and have a conversation with me and fight in the UFC?"
"The meeting went really well," Askren said. "They were all polite, everything was good, and we talked. Honestly when I left the UFC offices, I thought we were going to come to a deal at that point.
"Later that night they call back and they say that they're not interested. It was kind of a weird set of circumstances, and after going through the meeting and everything, it's very clear to me that it's not really about me. It's about Dana's quarrel with Bellator and (Bellator CEO) Bjorn (Rebney) ... because when you look at his main argument -- that I'm not I'm good enough -- it's shenanigans, plain and simple.
Ben Askren announces signing with ONE FC, blames 'immature' Dana White
"I have already told Dana, obviously via twitter, not face-to-face, I don't have his cell phone number; I told him I would fight 'GSP' for free if I lost. If I lost, you don't have to pay me anything, that's how confident in my abilities I am. Now, I'll make a new offer to Dana. Obviously, 'GSP' and Hendricks are going to have a rematch, barring 'GSP's' retirement, which I don't think is going to stand. That was in the heat of the moment. Rory MacDonald is another guy that, he really just bugs me and he irks me. It was really nice to see him get knocked off his pedestal on Saturday night, but, if Dana White were willing, if I lost to him (Rory), I would fight for free and retire from the sport of MMA because that's how confident I am that I will beat Rory MacDonald. I am not completely financially motivated, I obviously want to make a living, but at the same time, I want to beat the best guys in the world.""That kid does not want to fight the best in the world."
Ben Askren to Dana White: Give me Rory MacDonald, I'll fight for free and retire from MMA if I lose