Usman: Ben Askren’s UFC fans will jump ship once they realize he’s boring

Ben Askren has been the toast of the welterweight town after signing with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) last October. True, most stateside mixed martial arts (MMA) fans have yet to see him compete, thanks to a five-year run with ONE Championship in Singapore, but his entertaining personality and hilarious tweets have quickly endeared him to the many trolls who follow combat sports.

But not all that glitters is gold.

That’s according to welterweight title contender Kamaru Usman, who may eventually cross paths with the “Funky” wrestler. In fact, “The Nigerian Nightmare” expects Askren to hemorrhage fans once they get a sample of his in-cage product, which consists mostly of wrestling.

“A lot of trolls are relating to him, that’s why he’s getting all this traction,” Usman told MMA Fighting. “There’s a certain level of product people want to see from UFC fighters. Wait until all those trolls see his product, see if they’re gonna be behind him, especially for this fight. Everybody knows there’s a certain product you expect from Robbie Lawler. Robbie comes to bang, and bang your head out, one of the most incredible guys we’ve had as champion.”

Askren (13-0, 1 NC) has finished seven of his last eight wins.

“If Ben Askren can’t go in there and deliver his game and show new wrinkles to his game, and Robbie’s just sitting there the whole time because you’re preventing him from putting out the product everybody wants to see from him, I think this is a lose-lose for him. He better come out and basically vanquish Robbie, which I don’t see happening.”

Askren, who also held gold for Bellator MMA, will make his Octagon debut as part of the UFC 235 pay-per-view (PPV) event this Sat. night (March 2, 2019) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, where Usman battles Tyron Woodley for the welterweight strap.

For much more on those two contests click here.