On MMA Trades
Some need to be made. Ben Askren, Mighty Mouse and the week ahead.
It was both strange and kinda great that my UFC viewership was over this morning by 11 am eastern time. UFC Singapore is in the books, and we look ahead to the 500th card in the history of the UFC at Madison Square Garden next Saturday. The main event is allegedly back on. Nate Diaz has a warm and fuzzy feeling and is ready to fight Jorge Masvidal for something called the ‘‘Bad Motherfucker’’ title next weekend. So much more on that this coming week. For now, let’s talk a little Ben Askren.
Let’s just make one thing clear: The UFC won the trade when they sent Demetrious Johnson to ONE, and took back Ben Askren. It was unprecedented at the time. Askren was retired, never having proven his greatness in the biggest promotion on earth. Johnson was dominating the flyweight division forever before he ran into Henry Cejudo, and lost a razor close decision at UFC 227 in August 2017. Askren had been the ONE welterweight champion and also the Bellator welterweight champion. He was also a 2008 Olympian and had an undefeated 19-0 record at the time of the trade.
Lets start with what the UFC gave up:
There is no bigger DJ fan than me. Lets make that perfectly clear up front. Lets also be real about Johnson’s UFC run. He never drew a penny. Guys, the UFC does not give a shit that us hardcore fans love watching the guy do his thing. His fight style is impeccable. He was almost seemingly bored sometimes in there, adding twists that we had never seen before(Suplex into an armbar, anyone?) When you get to that point in your martial artistry, you have reached some sort of zenith. DJ is and was there. For all his accolades, the UFC was going to cut the flyweight division and make DJ move up to bantamweight. That is plain and simple the truth. If Johnson beat Cejudo at 227, the flyweight division was a goner. It is important to note that Johnson fought at bantamweight at one time, and lost to Dominick Cruz.
Cejudo won the fight and became, Love him or hate him, a big-time personality. He also put a temporary stay on the flyweight division execution. I feel for DJ in that sense. Johnson never had a Joker to his Batman in his entire UFC run. The trash talking Cejudo would have fit that fine, and I am guessing if they did a trilogy fight, the business would have been good. Cejudo moved on to become the bantamweight champion too, by defeating Marlon Moraes after TJ Dillashaw vacated. The same Dillashaw that Cejudo defended his shiny, new flyweight title against that January. Bottom line about Johnson’s UFC run is this: He never sold Pay Per Views and he never made anyone buy a ticket. For all his greatness, Johnson never had one memorable quote, feud, or rivalry. He was almost too great. The UFC lives off drama, Johnson did not provide any, simple as that. Cejudo has done in just about a year what Johnson could never do, he made the flyweights interesting, and himself a character. Demetrious Johnson was too great, and also too Vanilla.
What the UFC got:
Ben Askren has a really, really famous fan. Joe Rogan. For better or worse, Joe Rogan’s Podcast runs the narrative of MMA in some ways. Rogan had been touting Ben Askren as the Unicorn. That one great active fighter who has never been able to prove himself in the UFC. Man, the hype machine got rolling. Askren had a much publicized spat with Dana White on Twitter in 2013(That always gains you fans) and the world was just resigned to the fact that the mystical creature with curly hair would never arrive. When the trade finally went down Askren called out everybody, from the Diaz boys, and Conor McGregor. His first tweet after the trade was a declaration. Should Askren have been hyped that much? Absolutely not. His in-cage skills are average. Ben Askren was never a serious contender then, and he is not now. Never was. Never will be.
So how in the blazes did the UFC make out on this trade? It’s really simple, they got a real superstar in return and gave up a fighter that was never that, and never was going to become one. I hear a lot of chatter on the socials that the UFC got fleeced because DJ has gone 3-0 since the trade in ONE and Askren is 1-2. Guys, the big knock on Askren was he faced inferior competition in ONE. How in the hell can we now say that the trade was stupid because DJ is in fact, now beating that same inferior competition??? Flawed logic. The UFC cares and is in desperate need of stars. Desperate need of characters. Askren is that. You would not have your UFC 244 main event had Askren not been the trash talking, undefeated mythic figure walking into the Jorge Masvidal fight. Masvidal made his career with the 5 second flying knee knockout of Askren. It was more important because it was in fact Askren though. Had he beaten Santiago Ponzinibbio in that fashion, yeah we would have a great video clip that would have made the rounds on Twitter forever, but it would not have made Masvidal the way it did. Its different when you do that to a undefeated mythical creature. It just is.
Ben Askren served a few purposes:
He gave the UFC a new character
He could be interesting on endless press junkets
His undefeated record, inevitably drew fans to watch him fight and either lose or continue unbeaten.
If said undefeated record got broken, the fighter who hung the first loss would be a made man. Case in point: Masvidal.
Askren was essentially cannon fodder. You have to ask yourself though, would the UFC rather have DJ tear up the flyweights for a few more years, or have Askren for a year or so talking trash, selling fights, and eventually losing, and giving a good rub to an up and comer? My point exactly.
Speaking of which, all this trade talk is making me think of some scenarios I would like to see play out in the near future. I love listening to sports radio when geek fans like me call in and propose trades. So lets do some fantasy trades. MMA style.
First Proposal:
ONE gets Michael Johnson, UFC lightweight.
UFC gets ONE lightweight/welterweight Garry Tonon
Selfishly, I want to see Tonon in the UFC. Tonon is a grappling legend, and touts an undefeated 5-0 record in MMA so far. Johnson had had the oddest MMA career of all-time. He has some terrible losses and also wins over the likes of Tony Ferguson and Dustin Poirier. Johnson is underrated as hell, and could probably make a lot of noise in ONE. Its a win-win.
2nd Proposal
Bellator gets UFC lightweight Dustin Poirier
UFC gets Bellator lightweight Michael Chandler
Another total win-win. Has Poirier hit his absolute ceiling at 155 lbs in the UFC? Very possible. Poirier has the skills to immediately walk in to Bellator and get a title shot, and honestly I would favor him against any Bellator lightweight. Chandler now takes the mantle of best active fighter to never fight in the UFC. I mean, even coming off a loss, I still think Chandler might have the best skill-set to compete with lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in the UFC. It would be a crime in my opinion if Chandler never steps foot in the UFC’s octagon.
3rd and final proposal
The swap of malcontents and dingbats
Bellator gets UFC welterweight Colby Covington
UFC gets Bellator whatever-weight Dillon Dannis
Obviously, Covington is a far superior fighter to Dannis. Dannis has never fought in an actual weight class, and Covington is the interim 170lb champion. Lets be real, the UFC and Covington are not long for each other. Covington and Dana White constantly go at it, I would be surprised if Covington lasts another year, I mean it. For Dannis, people would pay to see this clown get his head ripped off by superior UFC competition. Trust me on that. They may only get one fight out of Dannis, but hell it would be worth it.
One more transaction here. It’s not a trade but rather a free agent signing. I cannot imagine that a competitor like Ronda Rousey is going to let her MMA career be remembered the way it is now, after dropping two straight before leaving off to WWE. My bet is we see Ronda again in MMA. I think she is way too competitive to go out like that. So my last deal of the day would be for Bellator to sign Ronda to a ‘‘Futures deal’’ for whenever she is ready. Scott Coker is the granddaddy of women’s MMA, and it would make total sense for Rousey to finish up with Bellator against their competition. It would also do monster business for the secondary promotion. I cannot think of a bigger win-win in all of MMA. Rousey to Bellator, get going on it Coker.