Undefeated welterweight Ben Askren considers himself to be a big deal, especially among fight fans. And while some major MMA figures criticize his fighting style saying they’d “rather watch two flies f—k” than see him fight, for “Funky” Ben, it’s all about his personality.
“I don’t think the number of followers has anything to do with how good I am fighting,” Askren said on a recent episode of UFC Unfiltered (transcript via MMA NYTT). “That said, I am good at fighting and I do have a lot of followers. So I think it will help me get the bigger fights because I know the UFC pay attention to those metrics whether it warrants it or not.
“I’m more of a purist competitor and I enjoy the fighting aspect of it, but people enjoy my personality and they enjoy that I tell the truth. I speak plainly, I don’t beat around the bush and I’m just genuine.”
Askren went on to compare himself with fellow welterweight Colby Covington, who has been incessant in his tirades and name-calling, as per usual.
“One of the reasons why Colby isn’t catching on, and Colby has been in the UFC for four years, he had a fake title shot, and he still had a very small amount of the following that I do,” Askren said. “Whether it’s Instagram or Twitter or whatever. Part of the reason that’s happened is because it’s so contrived.
“When Colby says stuff you don’t think ‘wow that’s unique and that’s genuine,’” he added. “The fact that he has to bring Trump into everything is so that everyone gets mad because everyone hates Trump right. He has to do that to draw interest, it’s just an obvious sign that people aren’t that into you.”
Askren will be fighting former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler for his UFC debut at UFC 233 on January 26th in Anaheim, California. The card is expected to be headlined by a flyweight title bout between Henry Cejudo T.J. Dillashaw.