An amateur wrestling match has been made official for Beat The Streets on May 6 accord to Ariel Helwani of ESPN as UFC veteran Ben Askren will take on Jordan Burroughs.
Chatter about a match between the two started a few days ago when Burroughs took to Twitter to see if fans wanted him to face Askren, which got a very positive response.
Hey @Benaskren let’s see what the fans think. Should Ben and I wrestle at this year’s Beat The Streets dual?
— Jordan Burroughs (@alliseeisgold) April 2, 2019
Askren would get wind of what Burroughs did and was open to the match, which Askren revealed through Twitter:
Who’s in??? @FloWrestling @BeattheStreets @USAWrestling @alliseeisgold pic.twitter.com/8tDxkCRwTD
— Ben Askren (@Benaskren) April 2, 2019
The UFC veteran has had a lot of success in the amateur wrestling world, including a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 2005 Pan American Championships, a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 2008 United States Championships and a gold medal in men’s grappling at the 2009 World Championships. Askren also participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics, but failed to medal after a loss to Ivan Fundora in the round of eight.
Burroughs is no slouch in the wrestling game as well, having secured a gold medal in freestyle wrestling in the 2012 Summer Olympics, while also securing multiple gold medals in freestyle wrestling in the World Championships (2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017). Burroughs also secured gold twice in the Pan American Games (2011 & 2015), while also securing a pair of gold medals in the Pan American Championships (2014 & 2016).
Beat The Streets takes place on Monday, May 6 from the Theater At Madison Square Garden in New York, New York with Ben Askren and Jordan Burroughs competing.
