# Bellator releases welterweight champion Ben Askren



## onip69 (Oct 14, 2012)

> Bellator releases welterweight champion Ben Askren
> 
> 
> By Dann Stupp	3 hours ago
> ...



http://mmajunkie.com/2013/11/14/bellator-releases-welterweight-champion-ben-askren/


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

BwhahahahH what?!?! Yeah bellator cares about having the best fighters they are a completely legit organization. I'm so done hearing that after this. They have two guys.

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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

Life B Ez said:


> BwhahahahH what?!?! Yeah bellator cares about having the best fighters they are a completely legit organization. I'm so done hearing that after this. They have two guys.
> 
> Sent from Verticalsports.com Free App


This, so so much of this. Bellator may put on some decent cards with some decent fighters but they are no more legitimate than Elite XC was.


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## OU (Sep 26, 2012)

Life B Ez said:


> BwhahahahH what?!?! Yeah bellator cares about having the best fighters they are a completely legit organization. I'm so done hearing that after this. They have two guys.
> 
> Sent from Verticalsports.com Free App


They have 2 fighters that can do what exactly? Be considered top 5 in the World? Because they have plenty of guys on roster better then a number of guys on Zuffa roster.


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## Stun Gun (Oct 24, 2012)

Bellator has a handful of guys who are great fighters, and few guys who could have great careers. Them releasing Askren is stupid, but I'm hoping UFC signs him if not WSOF needs to snatch him up and get Palhares


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

OU said:


> They have 2 fighters that can do what exactly? Be considered top 5 in the World? Because they have plenty of guys on roster better then a number of guys on Zuffa roster.


They have two guys who would stay on the main card consistently. The rest of the guys would maybe be lucky to carve out a gatekeeper spot. There future hw champ just got passed over by the ufc after a career of gatekeeping. Par Curran just got shut out by a mid level wrestler with hardly any striking. And they just released one of their champs. Who are all these guys better than main card fighters that I don't know about?

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## OU (Sep 26, 2012)

Life B Ez said:


> They have two guys who would stay on the damn main card.
> 
> Sent from Verticalsports.com Free App


We have had some nice main cards lately but you need to take a much harder look at the main cards for this year and all you need to to is go about 2 cards back to see what I'm talking about. I'm just talking main card PPV because Bellator has fighters on every card that could be on the FX main cards. 
There are guys in Bellator that Dana would love to have on roster right now, especially in the smaller weights.

Daneil Straus would beat just about everyone in his weight class in the UFC. You are drastically underselling his ability. The guy is a legit top 10 fighter. So is Curan.


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

OU said:


> We have had some nice main cards lately but you need to take a much harder look at the main cards for this year and all you need to to is go about 2 cards back to see what I'm talking about. I'm just talking main card PPV because Bellator has fighters on every card that could be on the FX main cards.
> There are guys in Bellator that Dana would love to have on roster right now, especially in the smaller weights.
> 
> Daneil Straus would beat just about everyone in his weight class in the UFC. You are drastically underselling his ability. The guy is a legit top 10 fighter. So is Curan.


Who? 

Daniel Straus, Dana would definitely not be interested in he has beaten exactly one guy of note and it was in the least memorable way possible.

If all these guys are such beasts why is it none of them get offers? You can't really think they turn down the ufc for bellator.

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## OU (Sep 26, 2012)

Life B Ez said:


> Who?
> 
> Daniel Straus, Dana would definitely not be interested in he has beaten exactly one guy of note and it was in the least memorable way possible.
> 
> ...


There are prospects that Bellator got there hands on either before UFC could or that flew under the radar. Straus might not have the style of fighting the UFC is looking for but he would Jon Fitch his way through the majority of the division. Dana would love to have the young talented Pitbull brothers and their style of fighting. Dana was very excited about the possibility of getting Alvarez and you know he would love to have a young talented guy like Chandler who has gone to war now twice with Eddie. I know the UFC would love to have a guy like Dantas(only 24 years old). They have a lot of talented, exciting and young fighters on roster and like I mentioned especially in the smaller weight classes. Louis Nogeria would be another guy to help add depth in the UFC. I'm sure Dana wouldn't mind having Storm in the UFC with his style of fighting. I bet he would be game vs a guy like Bisping. Rick Hawn is well above average and would do well at LW or WW in the UFC. Most these guys mentioned are better then 80% of the guys in the UFC in the same weight class.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

OU said:


> There are prospects that Bellator got there hands on either before UFC could or that flew under the radar. Straus might not have the style of fighting the UFC is looking for but he would Jon Fitch his way through the majority of the division. Dana would love to have the young talented Pitbull brothers and their style of fighting. Dana was very excited about the possibility of getting Alvarez and you know he would love to have a young talented guy like Chandler who has gone to war now twice with Eddie. I know the UFC would love to have a guy like Dantas(only 24 years old). They have a lot of talented, exciting and young fighters on roster and like I mentioned especially in the smaller weight classes. Louis Nogeria would be another guy to help add depth in the UFC. I'm sure Dana wouldn't mind having Storm in the UFC with his style of fighting. I bet he would be game vs a guy like Bisping. Rick Hawn is well above average and would do well at LW or WW in the UFC. Most these guys mentioned are better then 80% of the guys in the UFC in the same weight class.


Neither PitBull would be top 10 hell they would be lucky to bounce around the top 15 same with the guys you talk about. Don't get me wrong I think the PitBulls would be great additions to the UFC for prelim or FX cards but only because they are aggressive and entertaining not because I think either would be champ. I had a lot of faith in there potential them but its dwindling maybe they prove me wrong. And Storm would get spanked by Bisping the guy hasn't beat a single top 30 fighter in his career I couldn't even tell you who his biggest win is. Rick Hawn maybe breaks the top 15 at LW but again like a lot of the top guys in Bellator I would like to see him in the UFC for entertainment value. Winning a Bellator WW tournament means what considering Ben Saunders has made the finals twice and Jay Hieron won the tournament once before returning to the UFC and not winning a single fight.


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## OU (Sep 26, 2012)

Douglas Lima would be another fantastic addition to the UFC and I would love to see him fight guys like Kampmann and Condit. I think he has the potential to be a top 5 UFC and he is still pretty young, as are most of the people I have mentioned in this thread, some are very young. Bellator did find a few very nice prospects that have high ceilings. Also like I mentioned before most of their quality is in the lighter weights.


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## Hammerlock2.0 (Jun 17, 2009)

I was going to say Douglas Lima as well, in defense of Bellator's roster. There are several LWs that are easily UFC caliber as well. Plus I would argue that Bellator's FW division has just as much depth as the UFC's except for the top 3 guys... and Rob Emerson.


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## LizaG (May 12, 2008)

I'm not an Askren fan, but if Champions can be released at the blink of an eye, then it pretty much pisses on the status a champ has in Bellator.


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## Stun Gun (Oct 24, 2012)

Come on just sign him Dana


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## Killz (Oct 5, 2009)

Pretty sure Dana said UFC aren't going to sign him.

Thank God.


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## Stun Gun (Oct 24, 2012)

Killz said:


> Pretty sure Dana said UFC aren't going to sign him.
> 
> Thank God.


Why do people not want the best fighters in the UFC? 

I like Askren, and I want to see where he really stands, I think he could be the best at WW


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## Killz (Oct 5, 2009)

Stun Gun said:


> Why do people not want the best fighters in the UFC?
> 
> I like Askren, and I want to see where he really stands, I think he could be the best at WW


Honestly, don't see him breaking the top 10 in the UFC. Not only that but he is quite possibly the most boring fighter to ever pull on a pair of MMA gloves.


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## Stun Gun (Oct 24, 2012)

Killz said:


> Honestly, don't see him breaking the top 10 in the UFC. Not only that but he is quite possibly the most boring fighter to ever pull on a pair of MMA gloves.


The start of his career he was boring, but in recent fights he's be a lot more exciting. He deserves a contract, to see where he's at, don't give him a title shot, or some scrubs, feed him to the wolves give him Rory or someone


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## Killz (Oct 5, 2009)

Stun Gun said:


> The start of his career he was boring, but in recent fights he's be a lot more exciting. He deserves a contract, to see where he's at, don't give him a title shot, or some scrubs, feed him to the wolves give him Rory or someone


He just 'squeeked' past Jay Heiron... Pretty sure Rory would actually kill him. :thumb02:


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## Stun Gun (Oct 24, 2012)

Hieron is a lot tougher than people give him, he was flashed KO'd, and that fight was awhile ago.


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## Joabbuac (Jan 31, 2009)

Killz said:


> Honestly, don't see him breaking the top 10 in the UFC. Not only that but he is quite possibly the most boring fighter to ever pull on a pair of MMA gloves.


I would like to see it proven either way though.... It would be less boring to see him getting beat down anyway.


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## Stun Gun (Oct 24, 2012)

I think whether you like the guy or not he deserves a chance, he was the Bellator champion, whether you think they are legit or not. He has a lot to offer, guys have gotten into the UFC for less, Dana probably doesn't want him to come in and do that great because it gives the moron at Bellator something to talk about.

I say bring him in, give him a top 10 guy that is going to expose him in some way and take it from there. I want to see the best guys compete, and he is one of the best imo.


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## Joabbuac (Jan 31, 2009)

Stun Gun said:


> He has a lot to offer, guys have gotten into the UFC for less


Depends on money though, paying a raw unknown ww for 6k a fight is risk free... UFC won't give Askren as much as Bellator were.


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## Rauno (Nov 20, 2009)

They have to cut outcome $ to pay off the 2 LHW (or HW these day's?) PPV monsters somehow..

Glad this happened. Askren deserves a spot in the UFC.

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## Voiceless (Nov 8, 2010)

With Lombard showing the level of a Bellator champ, the UFC won't want to spend big money on Askren, so he's on a tough spot for negociation, even less with Bellator not wanting to renew his contract.

They should give him a contract with pay cut option if he doesn't deliver and match him up against some wrestle proven Top10 fighters. So we can see where he stands.


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## slapshot (May 4, 2007)

And everyone gets huffy when I say MMA isn't a sport its prize fighting. The UFC has the same mentality.


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## Canadian Psycho (Apr 22, 2007)

There's so much BS talk in this thread it's ridiculous. No one has any idea how the UFC fighters would fare against the Bellator fighters, and vice versa. This talk of "Fighters from ______ would beat 80% of _______'s fighters" is nothing but blind speculation, and that people say it with such certainty is laughable. How many people thought Hector would run wild over UFC's MW division? The man couldn't even get by Tim Boetsch, who will never vie for a title. People need to quit talking like they're some sort of authority on what would be, because the truth is none of us knows jack about how the organizations stack up. It's all speculation. 

Though there's really no question that UFC has the more talented roster overall. Anyone who says otherwise is just a delusional nitwit desperately trying to appear cool by going against the grain. I like Bellator, but it doesn't have the depth UFC does.


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## Stapler (Nov 18, 2006)

Storm would be game against Bisping? He struggled hard against Brett Cooper who by the way would have won a decision if it were a three round fight. There is no way of knowing how Storm would do against a legit top 10. I don't even think he would beat all of the guys Bisping has beat. At least by judging from what I've seen from him so far.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

I think Lombard is hurting Askren's chances a lot, Hector got some huge money when he came over to the UFC and has done very little to show he was worth the coin.


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