Daniel Cormier Says Ben Askren Never Knew How To Fight
Daniel Cormier says he was scared to see Ben Askren almost become UFC champion “without learning how to fight.”
The former Bellator and ONE Championship champion has world-class wrestling ability but according to Cormier, he’s never even bothered to learn the striking side of the game.
Askren made an eagerly anticipated jump to the UFC in 2019. He beat former world champion, Robbie Lawler, in his promotional debut before back-to-back losses against Jorge Masvidal and Demian Maia promoted his retirement.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Cormier joked about the face Askren almost became a UFC champion without knowing how to actually fight, he said.
“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 like ‘this dude’s about to be a world champion and he doesn’t even know how to fight.’
“Ben never tried to learn to fight,” Cormier added with a laugh. “He was about to be world champ. I love Ben, he’s my boy, but boy… I’ll tell you: Ben was about to become a world champ without learning how to fight.”
Cormier used Askren’s last fight before his retirement to emphasize the point. The 35-year-old fought Maia who is highly regarded for his BJJ skills but not known to have particularly impressive striking – but even he was able to out-strike Askren.
“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,” Cormier said. “Dude’s just out-striking Ben Askren.”
Cormier went on to say he had offered to help Askren with his striking but the welterweight contender wasn’t interested. “He doesn’t listen,” he laughed. “Ben knows everything,” Cormier concluded. (Transcribed by BJPenn.com)
Is Daniel Cormier right? Did Ben Askren fail to learn how to fight despite being an MMA champion in multiple promotions?
