Ben Askren gets on Twitter to defend controversial UFC 235 win over Robbie Lawler

For a guy who came into Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) with a reputation for being boring, Ben Askren sure has provided fans with a lot of entertainment. In several realms, too: he’s had great Twitter feuds, sassy interviews, and now a wild Octagon debut fight against Robbie Lawler that basically stole the show at UFC 235. Not bad for a guy Dana White once described as Ambien in human form.

Askren came into UFC a divisive figure and his first fight only builds on that reputation. Many of those watching felt like he owes his win to referee Herb Dean, who gave Askren every opportunity to survive an early whupping from Lawler only to turn around and stop the fight off a split-second assumption that Lawler had succumbed to a choke (he hadn’t).

”I’m not the freaking referee, is all it comes down to,” Askren told Joe Rogan after the fight, just a bit defensively. He took a more aggressive stance in justifying the win at the post-fight press conference, and now seems more than happy to troll his detractors on Twitter who weren’t impressed with his performance.

He’s also sticking with his hard pass on the idea of an immediate rematch with Lawler, instead putting his effort into a match up against the winner of the Darren Till vs. Jorge Masvidal fight in London, England, on March 16, 2019.

Meanwhile, fans be like ...