In October 2018, the historic trade between the UFC and ONE Championship took place. Former UFC champion Demetrious Johnson headed to South East Asia to compete for the Singapore-based promotion, while Ben Askren headed west for his then long-awaited Octagon debut.
A year after the trade, “Mighty Mouse” has gone 3-0 at ONE Championship, bagging the flyweight title in the process. Askren, on the other hand, is on a 1-2 run.
Given Askren’s skid upon his entry into the UFC, fans are now questioning whether it was a good deal for Dana White and his fellow execs. But for the UFC president, it was still one of the best deals he’d made, so far.
Askren was on a 19-fight undefeated streak, before he ran into Jorge Masvidal’s flying knee at UFC 239 in July. Over the weekend, he was also stopped by Demian Maia via third-round submission, as he now holds a record of 19-2 (with 1 NC and 12 wins by stoppage).