“My standpoint…” Demetrious Johnson, Ben Askren discuss the winner of the UFC/ONE championship trade-off
Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson had been traded for ex-ONE Championship titleholder Ben Askren in an unprecedented trade.
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UFC flyweight Demetrious Johnson was swapped for ex-ONE FC champ Ben Askren (Source: IMAGO/X)
In 2018, the UFC and ONE Championship made an unprecedented deal in MMA. The sides of the same coin in this currency were Demetrious Johnson and Ben Askren. It’s been years since both took their out of UFC and ONE FC. The question is: Who won?
Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson had quite a chip on his shoulder before it. “Mighty” went larger than life with a bountiful reign but still had issues on fighter compensations. His 11 defenses supplanted even Anderson Silva at the time. He was traded for ex-ONE Championship title holder Ben Askren.
Johnson snagged the ONE flyweight title, capping off his career by besting Adriano Moraes 2-1 in their rivalry. Judging by the way things panned out, DJ acts peacemaker and says they both won in a way.
My standpoint, I said everybody won, …I got to go to ONE Championship, make good money. You got to come to the UFC, …The UFC got you…Your sh*t-talking was actually intelligent sh*t-talking. You would be very good snippets…wasn’t for you, they might not have the rise of Jorge Masvidal without that flying knee. …‘Street Jesus’ baptizing people coming up, then you wouldn’t have Kamaru Usman, Leon Edwards.
Demetrious Johnson via his “MIGHTY” Podcast
During the ONE 168 broadcast, Johnson announced his retirement after a gloated run. Immediately after, ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong said he’d be the first ONE Hall of Famer. Speaking to John Morgan for Cageside Grind City Media, even UFC promotional CEO Dana White agreed to do the same on his part. So despite the hassles, it’s a win after all.
Meanwhile, Askren came in with a bang. He knocked out Robbie Lawler in his Octagon debut at UFC 235. However, his later outings were not as gloated as those of his previous run at ONE FC or Bellator. ‘Funky’ had his side of the story to tell.
Reluctant Ben Askren agrees with take on MMA trade-off
The run might have not been so smooth. But as Demetrious Johnson pointed out – Ben Askren started a chain reaction that lives to this day. Askren was the subject of the fastest knockout in UFC history courtesy of Jorge Masvidal. It shot off ‘Gamebred’ as the “Street smart” Jesus and pioneer gangster.
Said gangster would go on to fight for a gimmicky “BMF” strap. The lineage of that silver strap has resulted in some epic battles so far. As for Masvidal, he faced his own KO to Kamaru Usman, who’d hold his mettle as the top UFC Pound-for-Pound on a long reign. Usman would face his own head-kick KO to one Leon Edwards. That too leaves on in history—all in part due to ex-UFC welterweight Askren.
Other than that, his banter snippets and draw power made him a fast earner and fan-fave very quickly. However, Team Roufusport MMA’s ‘Funky’ breaks the funk and says it wasn’t all too rainbow and sunshine for ONE FC before Johnson came. Because Askren reports he was already on his way out and UFC got less.
ONE Championship, the thing that was golden for them is I wasn’t going to fight, …I was done. If you stay in the UFC, I’m assuming you’re going to continue to fight, at least for a while. And in ONE Championship, I was legit done. So, they essentially sold an asset that was kind of off market for – and you had a five-year run where I think you’ve done some grappling matches, you did a mixed-rules match.
Ben Askren via “MIGHTY” Podcast (@Mighty15x)
However, Ben Askren did retract and say the most optimal thing out of it is that they both did win. Following his loss to Masvidal, Askren was submitted by Demian Maia in October 2019 before opting to hang up his gloves. He agrees with Johnson that it was a win-win situation for both parties, with his move to the UFC reigniting a final run.
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