Former Bellator and ONE welterweight champion Ben Askren has nothing positive to say about Colby Covington.
And Askren feels he is far from the only person who can say that.
While preparing for his upcoming bout with Demian Maia at UFC Fight Night 162 later this month, Askren appeared on Submission Radio. The subject of Covington came up, and “Funky” let it fly like he always does.
Ben Askren On Submission Radio
“No, Colby’s a terrible person. I’ve been telling you guys. I have been telling the outside world this for many years,” Askren said. “I am in the wrestling community. The wrestling community is tight knit. We know who sucks and who doesn’t suck. Now here’s the deal, everywhere Colby’s been, nobody likes him, they don’t like him, no good reviews. We are seeing that now come out of ATT. I mean, everyone’s kind of been keeping quiet, but think about the different people who came out against him; Joanna, Dustin, Jorge. I mean, who likes him?”
“No, no he’s a little bit of a joker, but genuinely, no one likes him like in real life. He’s really a douchebag. For real. Real talk.”
Askren was also asked his thoughts on a potential bout with Georges St-Pierre. When he was in Bellator, St-Pierre was the UFC champion.
“Yeah, I would love it,” he said on a potential fight should St-Pierre return. “This is again where I feel like it’s disingenuous. When I was 19-0 and I was rolling and I beat Jorge Masvidal, like, that’s the track I’m on. And now, what I realize is, I need to go get a few wins before I start talking about GSP and Khabib (Nurmagomedov) again. If I talk about GSP and Khabib again, everyone’s gonna roll their fucking eyes at me because it’s ridiculous. Now, if I go get a couple of wins, now when I say these things people won’t roll their eyes, people will say, oh, I could see that happening, that’s fair.”
He also views the dream match as a huge one.
“A gigantic, humongous fight,” he said. “I mean, Colby’s not a star, Marty’s (Kamaru Usman) not a star. These are guys that, they’re not nearly as big or as popular as they think they are. And GSP’s star I would say, still dwarfs both of those guys.”
Ben Askren Vs. Agilan Thani In ONE Championship
Askren won his first 19 fights including his UFC debut this past March. In that contest, he submitted Robbie Lawler. However, a second straight defeat could lead to retirement for good this time.
“I’d have to think about it,” Askren said. “But man, if I don’t win this fight, I’m knocked way, way, way down the rung. So, I don’t think that’s going to happen, but I’m gonna go in there and mix it up, and then after that we’ll have to see where it goes.”
UFC Fight Night 162 is scheduled for October 26 from the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Maia vs. Askren will headline the ESPN+ event.