Ben Askren Claims He Tried To Save UFC 233 At Last Minute

Yesterday, the MMA world was met with the surprising news that January 26’s scheduled UFC 233 PPV had been called off. Ben Askren claims he tried to save the event at the last minute, however.

The outspoken “Funky” was recently “traded” from ONE Championship to the UFC for former flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. He was expected to make his debut against former champion Robbie Lawler at the California-based pay-per-view event. 

Askren told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani that he was more than willing to headline the card. When Lawler apparently needed more time to recover from his knee injury, Askren offered to fight at January 19’s UFC on ESPN+ 1 from Brooklyn, New York. He would also still face Lawler at March 2’s UFC 25 as well:

“I was ready & willing to save the day for my new bosses. Heck, I’m ready to fight tomorrow. If Robbie needs a little more time get ready to lose to me, so be it. Though I’d be more than happy to fight in Brooklyn and then kick his ass on March 2.”

Several of the fights from UFC 233 have been rescheduled for other upcoming events. Others are still awaiting their new dates. 

As for Askren, there’s no denying he’s set the MMA world ablaze with his constant callouts and seeming willingness to fight anyone at anytime. We don’t exactly know how he’s going to fare against the top welterweights in the world.

But his undefeated record and penchant for dominating any and everyone outside the Octagon has speculation buzzing about how he will stack up against the best in the UFC. He won’t be debuting at UFC 233 like he wanted, but the buzzing January 19 card could still be an option for “Funky.”

As Dana White likes to say, we’ll see what happens.