Ben Askren was set to make his UFC debut at UFC 233 against former UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler, but then the event was postponed and the bout was moved to UFC 235.
The former One & Bellator MMA Welterweight Champion was apparently offered fights against Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman, but Askren says they were too scared to fight him.
“I volunteered to fight Colby, I volunteered to fight Usman, and they’re so scared,” Askren said backstage at UFC On Fox 31. “Usman is the ultimate hypocrite, and he’s so dumb, he can’t even put his sentences together. He’s like, ‘I’m not a hypcrite. I said earn your shot.’ Well, no, that’s exactly why I said you’re a hypocrite, because that’s literally what Colby said to you. And then they pretend they don’t hear me.”
Usman was last seen in action at the UFC Ultimate Fighter 28 Finale and has recently signed a bout agreement to fight UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley.
Askren says he would’ve fought either Usman or Covington to save the now postponed UFC 233 card.
“Despite the fact that they’ve been in the UFC for four or five years, despite the fact that Colby won an interim and Usman’s pushing, their social media followings are still miniscule compared to mine,” Askren said. “Despite Colby running his stupid-ass (“Make America Great Again”) gimmick, despite Marty from Nebraska trying to act like he’s Kamaru. And so they’re just uninteresting people. So I volunteered to fight either of them to save the Anaheim card, and they both of them said no. That’s the frickin’ truth.”
UFC 235 takes place on Saturday, March 2 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with no main event announced at this time. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
