Ben Askren Roasted by Daniel Cormier

[JoshTehV]

Askren's biggest career highlight in one gif.

And to think some people claimed at one point that Askren was the guy to beat GSP.

Uh, I'd still argue that he'd give GSP a run for his money in the grasplinn department

 

[Frankie Baby!]

No BS I think I have better striking than Ben Askren, I can kinda do flashy kicks with no training at least

 

[MichaelT]

I feel like Ben suffered from the Kevin Lee syndrome, in that he has some big strengths, but he thinks he's way better than he really is, and so either didn't take his opponenets seriously enough, or didn't prepare/train to maximize his potential.

I bet on Masvidal to win by KO, but Askren could very well have held him down like he did to everyone else. In his mind Masvidal posed zero threat, and he paid for that.

He had ways to beat Maia too, but his pacing wasn't good at all, and he engaged Maia too much on the ground, which to me showed he either overestimated his grappling, or underestimated Maia's.

As strange as it sounds, for all his 'intelligence' talk, my impression was that he actually has very bad fight IQ, which in a way might be what Cormier jokingly meant by 'doesn't know how to fight'.

 

[Black Mamba]

Went 20-0 against decent competition and made it to the big leagues but doesn’t know how to fight? Dude was way past his prime anyway

Ask Robbie Lawler, Lima, Aoki and Koreshcov if Askren can fight

90% of Askrens opponents before the UFC were cans. If it wasn't for a Herb Dean brain fart he would have been 0-3 in the UFC. He was not past his prime.

 

[Summoning]

Said the guy with the Mummy stand.

 

[Metro]

Uh, I'd still argue that he'd give GSP a run for his money in the grasplinn department

I respect your opinion but I think you're outta your mind.

GSP would overpower and toss Askren around like a piece of meat.

That's if GSP allowed grappling exchanges. He would probably do him worse than he did Koscheck.

 

[Big Al's Texas BBQ]

Bearing in mind that Mark Schultz fought in UFC 9 back in 1996, it is funny how Askren was hyped as having a pedigree of elite freestyle wrestling that had never been seen before in the UFC.

It is not as Ben had anything except his wrestling. At least Ronda worked on her striking.

A kickboxing match between Askren and CM Punk would surely have been competitive.

Wrong. Ben was known for his folkstyle wrestling.

 

[MMA since 1993]

Early stoppage imo. Stipe could have got a few more punches in.

 

[Th3Sav4ge]

idk if ben is actually a know it all i think he started to late and did it more to test his wrestling than anything. if he doesn't actually realize his striking isnt that good thats strange

nah wood and pettis said ben dosnt really train striking. he felt like his wrstling was so much better he didnt have too. werid imo. even brock trained striking.

 

[Black Paladin]

True.

Tbh, he probably got more brain damage in the first 30 seconds of the Lawler fight than he's gotten throughout his entire career in the minor leagues.

"Welcome to the big leagues, mothafucka!"

 

[daltonames]

“Listen, I love Ben, he’s my boy, but I don’t know,” Cormier said. “There was a point that I was scared — I was like ‘Ben’s about to be a world champion.’ He was undefeated, he beat Robbie Lawler. I was [thinking]: ‘This dude’s about to be a world champion and he doesn’t even know how to fight.’"

“He was out there with Demian Maia. I’ve seen Demian Maia fight for like 15 years, and I’ve never seen him out-strike somebody like that. Dude’s just out-striking Ben Askren.”

Cormier was then asked why he didn’t offer to help Askren develop his striking.

“He doesn’t listen,” he laughed. “Ben knows everything.”

Not true. Maia outstruck Colby

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

I love DC. He somehow managed to roast him in a nice way.
Classy as always.

 

[Volador]

One of those rare cases where a fighter was actually legit super overrated. His Lima win is his last truly notable win, and that was 2012, when Lima was 24. Maybe Koreshkov in 2013. After that he fought basically nobodies and wash ups.

He was getting his ass kicked against Luis "Sapo" Santos, and got lucky the fight got turned into a NC. There was pretty much nothing to justify his hype in 2019, 7 years after scoring a high level win.

 

[Versace]

Said the guy with the Mummy stand.

At least DC never got KTFO by a 40 year old MW

 

[Mebetter]

Askren is on CM Punk's level of striking.

 

[DivineMind]

I didn't think the Masvidal fight was the end of Askren's career. It was a nice looking KO but ultimately those things rarely land and it could have been a freak thing.

But being submitted by Maia is inexcusable. He's a specialist and was beaten at his own specialty.

 

[louiscyphere]

I don't know how you could watch the lawler fight and think that Ben is about to be world champion

 

[Kuggk]

Fake ass cormier as usual... always giving backhanded compliments.

"I love this dude", then proceeds to insult his whole career.

I don't even like askren.

Wow you are sensitive. I doubt Askren is upset.

 

[kevinramsdell]

I mean is he wrong? Askren came in as one of the most over-confident fighters of all-time because he hadn't lost a pro fight yet and had relatively beaten everyone with ease. Even tho Robbie nearly decapitated him it was actually promising to see how well Askren did recover and when he did, stood right back up, marched Robbie down put him on his back and choked him out. But this Maia fight he looked like complete shit. Another example of "styles make fights", because you aren't just going to lay on top of Maia and get away with it. We've always known Ben's striking was suspect it just took until that Maia fight to make people realize it.

Smart move on him to retire as well. I respect that decisoon alot, because athletes of his caliber have this high standard and ego that they think they are never finished when they've been finished for ages. Dude took more damage in 3 fights then he has his entire life and if you know you can't beat the best, you might as well step back.

“Listen, I love Ben, he’s my boy, but I don’t know,” Cormier said. “There was a point that I was scared — I was like ‘Ben’s about to be a world champion.’ He was undefeated, he beat Robbie Lawler. I was [thinking]: ‘This dude’s about to be a world champion and he doesn’t even know how to fight.’"

“He was out there with Demian Maia. I’ve seen Demian Maia fight for like 15 years, and I’ve never seen him out-strike somebody like that. Dude’s just out-striking Ben Askren.”

Cormier was then asked why he didn’t offer to help Askren develop his striking.

“He doesn’t listen,” he laughed. “Ben knows everything.”

 

[fortheo]

Not true. Maia outstruck Colby

Arguably outstruck mark munoz, too.