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Ben Askren shares funny story about how Dana White hooked him up with Freddie Roach

Former UFC welterweight Ben Askren shared a funny story about how UFC president Dana White hooked him up with boxing instructor Freddie Roach.

Roach is considered by many to be one of the best boxing coaches in the world, and given that he was the legendary Manny Pacquiao’s coach, not to mention George St-Pierre’s, the proof is in the pudding. So when White called up Askren one day and offered him the chance the do some training with Roach, “Funky” couldn’t say no to the offer. After all, he has a huge boxing match coming up with Jake Paul on April 17, and training with Roach can only be beneficial to him.

Speaking to James Lynch, Askren explained how his initial contact with Roach came to be. According to Askren, he received a phone call from White one day while he was taking a shower, and the UFC bossman was very supportive.

“Dana connected it. Yeah, he called me one day. I went through (UFC executive) Hunter Campbell when they were starting to hit me up (about boxing Paul) because I had to get permission. And I was getting in the shower one day and Dana called and I was like, ‘Oh sh*t.’ Like I could have already done this deal, is he going to tell me I’m out or something? He was like, ‘Oh, kick his ass, blah blah.’ I was like oh, okay, sweet. Let’s do it,” Askren said. “I was there (training with Roach) for a week.”

Askren also mentioned that Roach will not be in his corner for this fight, noting that he didn’t want to bring him into the whole Askren vs. Paul “circus” atmosphere. Either way, it will be interesting to see what Askren learned from the legend.

Are you looking forward to seeing the improvements that Ben Askren has made under Freddie Roach?

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Adam Martin
MMA journalist, podcast host, and handicapper for MyMMANews.com, MMAoddsbreaker.com, and Bookies.com. MMAOB Daily Podcast host. Join me LIVE @ 5 pm EST every Monday for my live free podcast. Over 10 years of experience writing about MMA. I love this sport.