Bellator champ Askren on UFC's St-Pierre: His 'title is there for the taking'

Although he holds a title with a major organization and has put together an undefeated record in MMA, Ben Askren will always be a wrestler at heart.

This past week he joined MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio) while simultaneously watching the 2013 NCAA Wrestling Division I Championship, where he earned back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007 after a pair of runner-up finishes.

The topics ranged from NCAA’s big annual championship to Olympic wrestling to a fellow wrestling standout and big-show champ, UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre (24-2 MMA, 18-2 UFC). Askren (11-0 MMA, 8-0 BFC), Bellator’s long-reigning 170-pound champion, has mentioned St-Pierre frequently on Twitter, and on MMAjunkie.com Radio, he went into more detail.

“I think he lost a lot of the killer instinct he had when he was a lot younger,” Askren said of St-Pierre, who recently notched his eighth consecutive title defense with a UFC 158 win over Nick Diaz. “I know that’s tough to maintain when you’re at such a high level for so long, but I just think his title is there for the taking when someone goes in there and has a good solid wrestling base and is willing to fight hard for 25 minutes. They can take his title.”

Askren’s blunt critiques on Twitter have prompted a swarm of responses from St-Pierre fans. Few are complimentary, but the 28-year-old laughs it off.

“I don’t event read them,” he said. “I scroll though them. But I’ve got so much harassment from GSP supporters this past week that it’s hilarious.”

Askren even issued a challenge to UFC President Dana White. He said at the next UFC Fan Expo, he wants to wrestle St-Pierre for $1,000 per takedown. He was even willing to give White, a known gambler, 3-to-1 odds. He got no response. (“Maybe I’ll make him another offer – 5-to-1. Maybe he’ll think that’s fair,” Askren joked.)

Askren’s point, though, is that a top-level wrestler can dethrone St-Pierre, who hasn’t lost a fight in nearly six years. Up next is Johny Hendricks, who appears to have the skills Askren mentioned. In addition to a powerful left hand, Hendricks also is a two-time NCAA Division I champion who’s successfully adapted his wrestling skills to the UFC octagon.

“Johny has a better shot than anyone in a very long time,” Askren said. “I think a lot of these more recent challengers to GSP – actually, I would have been happy if Nick Diaz would have won. It would have been hilarious if he won. But in reality, the chances of him winning were very, very slim.”

And though a UFC vs. Bellator fight is about as likely as St-Pierre fighting a NASCAR driver, Askren believes he’d personally be a threat to the French-Canadian fighter. Of course, he’s got his own challenges coming up – including recent Bellator tournament winner Andrey Koreshkov (13-0 MMA, 5-0 BFC), as well as the Ben Saunders (16-5-2 MMA, 7-2 BFC) vs. Douglas Lima (24-5 MMA, 6-1 BFC) – but should the stars ever align, Askren believes he has St-Pierre’s number.

“I think obviously if we fought, I’d create scrambles I’d win,” he said. “And the other thing we saw – and I know (trainer) Firas Zahabi is making excuses – he got tired. He got really tired in the third, fourth and fifth round against Nick Diaz. But Diaz just doesn’t have the power to put GSP on his butt or put pressure on him.

“Nick Diaz just didn’t have the skill set he needed to beat him. I do”

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