Chael Sonnen is a former UFC fighter and he predicts that Askren will soon become UFC President Dana White’s favorite fighter.
“The ultimate irony, when this whole thing gets worked out between Dana and Ben Askren, is Ben Askren is going to become Dana’s favorite fighter, favorite guy that he has under contract. That’s the part Dana White doesn’t know,” Sonnen said on Beyond The Fight.
Askren and White haven’t always been on the best terms with each other, but they appear to have a professional relationship at the least right now.
Sonnen says a big reason that White will like Askren is because Askren has an old school mindset as a fighter.
“Ben Askren will fight anybody, at any weight, any time, no argument. He’s a true competitor, and that used to be a normal mindset. That used to be what Dana got to deal with. Now every time Dana has an idea and wants to do a fight, everybody comes in pushing back. The fighters push back. The media pushes back. The managers push back. You’ve got to have meetings, you’ve got to have sit-downs, you’ve got to have phone calls. It’s so hard to get any work done,” says Sonnen.
UFC 233 takes place on Saturday, January 26 from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California with Henry Cejudo and TJ Dillashaw headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
