UFC 235: Ben Askren finally gets his chance to back up his words and reputation vs. Robbie Lawler

From Ben Askren’s perspective, his trash-talking demeanor and over-the-top social media game isn’t something that’s necessarily new to the brief time he has been a UFC welterweight. In fact, teammate and current champion Tyron Woodley claims it’s a persona he first encountered back in their wrestling days as All-Americans at Missouri. 

“He has been talking crap like this since college and I just quit trying to calm him down because I recognize that there’s an art behind it and it never has taken away from his performance,” Woodley said during Monday’s UFC 235 media luncheon. “I think we’ve been a pretty good ying and yang since we have been into college.

“I take fighting more serious because there are so many things confounding ahead of that one fight. I want to be humble, I want to be respectful. Ben is more like the person that is going to be laughing and joking. He will be trying random moves in the locker room saying, ‘I bet you I could tap you out with a cradle.’ This is like right before a fight! They will be like, ‘Come on, let’s go.’ And he will be like, ‘Hold on, I’ve got to tap this guy out real quick.’ I’m the exact opposite. This is spiritual to me.”

The 36-year-old Woodley (19-3-1) will look for the fifth defense of his 170-pound title on Saturday in Las Vegas when he faces red-hot challenger Kamaru Usman at UFC 235. But it will be the man who has prepared him for so many of his big fights during training camp who will make an unlikely UFC debut when Askren, a former Bellator MMA and ONE Championship welterweight champion, faces Robbie Lawler on the undercard. 

Askren (18-0, 1 NC), a dominant wrestler who retired last year, was destined to walk away with a huge asterisk next to his unbeaten record thanks to the reality that he never got a chance to prove himself against the very best inside the Octagon. Years of battling Dana White on social media — with the UFC president deeming him everything from “an absolute moron” to “the most boring fighter in history” while denying him a contract — seemed to deem him permanently persona non grata.

Yet something happened on the way to Askren calling it quits at the age of 34. In an unprecedented move, UFC agreed to trade flyweight legend and former pound-for-pound king Demetrious Johnson to ONE in exchange for Askren. And although he has vowed he will never fight his teammate and friend Woodley, suddenly the number of attractive matchups at welterweight for Askren became a long list. 

Still, despite the heavy pressure that comes with making such an important debut, Askren has appeared to be anything but nervous. 

“I don’t get all worked up about competing or fighting,” Askren said. “I’m going to be relaxed, I’m going to be happy and then I’m going to go out there and fight and that’s all there is for me.”

Considering the splash Askren made once his UFC signing was complete, one would think there would be incredible pressure mounting up for the colorful native of Wisconsin to back up his words. Askren went on what can be described as nothing short of a three-day bender on social media aggressively calling out seemingly everyone in and around the welterweight division not named Woodley before it was announced that the former champion Lawler would be his first test. 

“It’s like I don’t feel the pressure and I like the pressure [all at the same time,]” Askren said. “This is what I came here for and this is what I enjoy. I don’t really buy into the pressure thing. I enjoy it. I’m here to compete and that’s what I want to do.”

One thing Askren isn’t willing to do is harp on the soap opera theatrics regarding how and why his UFC debut hadn’t happened earlier. He’s also not willing to wonder what a potential UFC run might have looked like at, say, age 25 or 30 as opposed to being just four months shy of 35. 

“My philosophy on life is that I can only control what I can control,” Askren said. “There was a guy who didn’t like me and I couldn’t control that and that’s why I didn’t fight all the best guys. Then, later in my career, the opportunity presented itself. I was retired, I was happy and I was doing exactly what I wanted to be doing in life and I said that this opportunity was too good to pass up and I’m going to take it.”

Considering the idea of a soft touch or stay busy fight aren’t concepts historically used by UFC matchmakers, Askren is most certainly being thrown into the deep end of the pool against the dangerous Lawler. Yet at the same time, Lawler is 36, doesn’t have much of a ground game and has questions of his own to answer regarding whether he’s shop worn.  

“My problem is if that I beat him up, they will say he’s old and washed up. That’s how they do it,” Askren said of his critics. “But the truth is Robbie is a really good fighter whether he’s 28 or 38.

“I’m getting there [to being washed up] but I’m not as old as Tyron is. I’ve got a few good years left in me.”

Askren is so loose, he can fire a shot at his teammate without breaking stride. But truth be told there is plenty on the line in this one for Askren to shake the label of being one-dimensional as a wrestler and be able to back up years worth of claims that he’s the best fighter in the world at 170 pounds. 

Sure, he’ll never get the chance to prove that as long as Woodley is still king. But considering how many beefs Askren has started in his short run as a UFC fighter, his future marketability as a trash-talking attraction could very much be riding on how legitimate he can present himself off the start as an elite fighter.