Ben Askren shares unique plan on how to save Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson
Ben Askren has a plan
Ben Askren has a very interesting plan on how to keep Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson on April 18.
With the world and sports world on shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the UFC postponing their next three events, the focus is on keeping UFC 249 intact. It will not happen in Brooklyn, New York as expected but Askren has a good idea on how to make it happen.
“The one thing I said last night was, let’s not get greedy, Dana, let’s make this really simple,” Askren told Submission Radio recently (via MMAFighting). “All we need is Tony and Khabib, we don’t need an f’ing undercard. So, in America they’re doing 10 people maximum, you can’t have more than 10 people in a group. So, you’ve got Tony, Khabib, three judges. But, you could also have the judges be remote. So, you don’t actually have to have them there. Your referee, you have Dana, you have Bruce Buffer and you have Joe Rogan maybe. Maybe we take the judges out and make the judges remote at a remote location and we give them each two coaches or something, or one coach. I think there’s a way to do it to keep it under ten people and broadcast it.”
“It’s awesome. Please, please don’t cancel it.”
It is a fight many fans want to see and Ben Askren’s idea is definitely a possibility. Yet, we don’t really know how this pandemic will be tomorrow let alone on April 18.
Regardless, Askren is fascinated by this matchup as he knows it could go either way.
“I think it’s fascinating, that’s why it’s so exciting,” Askren said. “It’s two guys who are really good at what they do, and if you were to design a fighter to beat the other person, that’s what you would design them to do, and so I think it’s gonna be really, really fascinating.”
“Khabib’s obviously gonna get takedowns, and he’s been so dominant with ground and pound, but at the same time, Tony is so active off his back and he’s good with the elbows and he’s got a lot of tricky stuff. I think it’s gonna be totally fascinating, I’m excited to see what happens.”
“Tony’s a great fit, because he’s not gonna stay put on bottom. Tony can take a lot of damage, which, you know, Khabib will dish it out. Tony doesn’t get tired. and then Tony’s a high volume striker, he’s not a power puncher, which I don’t think is the right mix to beat Khabib, because I think you have to kind of fight him hard, stuff a few takedowns and volume strike him, and I think that’s how you’re gonna beat him, and that’s what Tony does. So, there’s a possibility.”
