UFC President Dana White and currently retired MMA fighter Ben Askren haven’t always seen eye to eye in the past.
White is willing to talk with Askren about coming to the UFC, but Askren must first become a free agent for those discussions to happen.
“Ben Askren hit me up a few months ago and said ‘what are the odds that we can talk about me getting into the UFC?’" White said on UFC Unfiltered. “And I said we can absolutely talk about it. And we, I had him, I said you need to send me a letter, before I even talk with you or meet with you or do anything, I need a letter saying you’re a free agent and you’re able to whatever. And he’s not a free agent. He’s not a free agent, he’s under contract with One FC and he’s going to have to go fulfill his contract with them before I would even meet with him or talk to him.”
Askren is still under contract to the One Championships promotion, where he is the current welterweight champion. Askren has also competed under the Bellator MMA banner in the past, holding their welterweight strap as well.
If Askren were to come over to the UFC, it would make him one of the biggest free agent signings in the promotion’s recent history.
The fighters professional MMA record sits at 18-0-0-1NC, with notable wins coming over Ryan Thomas, Dan Hornbuckle, Lyman Good, Jay Hieron, Douglas Lima, Nick Thompson, Karl Amoussou, Andrey Koreshkov and Shinya Aoki.
