Josh Burkman’s return to the UFC wasn’t a huge surprise, he had gone 9-2 since his 2008 release from the promotion. It was that he was thrust into fight with a top ten fighter in Hector Lombard that caught many off guard.
Among those who had something to say about the matchmaking was Ben Askren, who tweeted, “Get beat up by Steve Carl then get to fight the #3 guy in the world. Makes perfect sense 🙂 #ufclogic”
Askren mouthing off is nothing new. He’s made a name for himself based off his success in fights and his brash personality, which includes a rare willingness to take shots at the UFC.
Burkman’s response is where things get weird. His response to Askren pointing out his 2013 loss to Carl was to say that he threw the fight so that he could get out of his World Series of Fighting contract:
This may have been/probably was an attempt at a joke to shrug off his only loss since early 2011, but it’s certainly ill advised to publicly suggest that you threw a fight, especially when the “throw your title fight so you don’t get locked in long term” plan has often been discussed behind the scenes.
I’d imagine that the Nevada State Athletic Commission might have something to say about this before the planned UFC 182 fight with Lombard, or the UFC might have to do something on their own to at least deal with the idea that Burkman floated out there, even if in jest.
Update: As expected, Burkman is saying it was a joke: