askren vs robbie lawler

[tekkenfan]

man i think this is the worst possible matchup for askren here lol ufc wants to make an example of ben i feel

reason being robbie has insane takedown defense hes big for 170 and hes very heavy handed and loves to fight. im not saying ben cant get him down but i think it will be a hell of a night for askren here. i cant remember the last time he was completely controlled by someone.

if ben gets him down he then holds robbie down but askrens takedowns are very overrated he does a lot of risky funky stuff to get guys down at times not sure how well that will work with a guy like lawler luckly he does have tyron woodley to help him prepare for a heavy handed brawler who has great tdd as well

 

[mattemate]

I don't think the UFC has a vendetta against him. I'd rather see him thrown in there with some really good competition instead of the bum of the month club that he's had his whole career up until now

 

[rmongler]

From a business perspective Lawler and RDA are really the only two top 5 matchups that make sense, and RDA already has a fight lined up.

Covington is next in line for the title shot; Till is going up to middleweight anyways; Thompson is a great high profile fighter but is never the less coming off of a string of close split decision L's, and needs a lower risk matchup than a guy like Askren to get back into the groove of things and maintain his status/draw power in the minds of more casual fans.

Really the request for a top 5 opponent right away makes it a very strict choice for options. If i were Askren i would have gone with someone around top 10 like Edwards or Masvidal. Good names that nevertheless is somewhat 'easing in' to the deep end as well. Perhaps though Askren feels he has only a limited time of good athletic performance left, and wants to go for broke as high as he can get the fastest he can get there.

Lawler is a tough matchup for a guy like Askren, but this matchup will never-the-less answer a lot of questions too, and if he beats him he can probably beat anyone in the division. If he is successful, it's also possible Askren's acquisition might be impetus for 170 being split into 165 and 175 divisions. A fight for a vacant 165 belt would probably be a great enticement for a GSP meeting as well.

Incidentally, UFC has been pretty lazy about promoting this trade, which will likely hurt their bottom line on cards. The only one really marketing Askren right now is Askren himself. This has been an increasing problem they've had in general i've noticed (not promoting their fighters) the past few years.

 

[BJJ_Rage]

robbie hasnt faced a good grinder grappler in like for ever... ben has a very good shot at taking him down, and on the ground, robbie is good at getting up, but ben is awesome at keeping people on he ground, my money is on ben.

 

[Alech33]

This is a joke right? Lawler is a perfect first fight. Former champion that will take down every time askren looks at his legs. Please tell me how you claim he has good td defense. Bc an exhausted Hendricks rested off a shot? Lol

 

[rmongler]

This is a joke right? Lawler is a perfect first fight. Former champion that will take down every time askren looks at his legs. Please tell me how you claim he has good td defense. Bc an exhausted Hendricks rested off a shot? Lol

It may be hard to remember, but Hendricks was a strong fighter once upon a time. If you could stop takedowns from a prime Hendricks and Rory MacDonald (twice), then yeah, i'd say you'd have pretty good takedown defense.

Personally i favor Askren in this matchup as well (he has access to training partners with levels of quality in wrestling beyond what all but a few, if any, other mma camps have), but it would be a mistake to think Lawler is not still a dangerous fighter.

 

[dsdoubled]

This is a joke right? Lawler is a perfect first fight. Former champion that will take down every time askren looks at his legs. Please tell me how you claim he has good td defense. Bc an exhausted Hendricks rested off a shot? Lol

I understand the perception that Lawler has good TDD. He is a strong, athletic, heavy hitter that is really really good at fighting his way out of the clinch (where Ben drags a lot of guys down from). He also has a very strong understanding of wrestling. Having said that, Ben is at least as good at shooting the legs and while Robbie is good at clinch TDD, I can't remember too many guys attacking him with singles/doubles. I'm not sure we really know how well the current version of Lawler defends the shot. I believe he's very good at it but Ben is so good he'll get him down eventually, especially bc Ben doesn't get hit clean too much.

 

[Alech33]

It may be hard to remember, but Hendricks was a strong fighter once upon a time. If you could stop takedowns from a prime Hendricks and Rory MacDonald (twice), then yeah, i'd say you'd have pretty good takedown defense.

Personally i favor Askren in this matchup as well (he has access to training partners with levels of quality in wrestling beyond what all but a few, if any, other mma camps have), but it would be a mistake to think Lawler is not still a dangerous fighter.

I know hendHendr was tough, he took Him down the first fight. I'm referring to the second one where Rd 4 he was exhausted and rested off a failed shot. That says way more about Jonny than Lawler

 

[MaxMMA]

This is a nightmare fight for askren. I don't think Lawler's TDD is as good as some of you think, but goddamn he is a cage warrior who is no stranger to wrestling.

He also has great power and technical boxing. Askren better make ZERO mistakes closing distance or he's toaster strudel.