Ben Askren headlines October's Agon Wrestling Championships event in Las Vegas

Reigning Bellator welterweight title holder Ben Askren (12-0 MMA, 9-0 BMMA), a two-time Division I NCAA wrestling champion and former Olympic wrestler, will compete in the main event of “Agon 1: The Revolution,” which takes place Oct. 27 at Las Vegas’ Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino.

Agon Wrestling Championships officials recently announced that Askren will wrestle against fellow former two-time collegiate champ Quintin Wright. CF Athletic President Micahel DiSabato, a consultant to the newly launched organization, recently announced the company’s plans to try and bring the sport of wrestling to the mainstream.

“We are going to put our athletes – the world’s greatest athletes, the world’s first athletes – on display on a professional platform to allow them to make a fair wage in their craft, a craft that has already proven to be the No. 1 discipline and the No. 1 craft in mixed martial arts,” DiSabato said.

Agon, a newly launched organization, bills itself as “the first domestic production to feature elite-level athletes from both the mixed martial arts and Olympic wrestling communities on a professional platform competing for prize money in the world’s first sport: wrestling.” The company earned its name from an ancient Greek word for a “contest,” specifically in the Olympic Games. The company’s will stream its first event live on FloWrestling.org but hopes to eventually land on TV.

Askren said the organization was initially looking to book him against Kyle Dake, one of only three men to earn four NCAA Division I wrestling titles, but Dake declined.

“We were talking to Kyle Dake,” Askren said. “I can’t say why he didn’t sign the contract. All I know is he didn’t, OK? Would I have loved to wrestle Kyle Dake? Yes. He’s one of the two or three best American folkstyle wrestlers ever. I want a pice of that.

“I don’t know why he didn’t sign the contract. Could be lots of reasons. He could be scared. I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out soon enough, right?”

Instead, he’ll face Wright at 195 pounds.

DiSabato said Askren, who’s currently a free agent after his contract with Bellator MMA expired, was in a “nice situation” contractually, which made him a logical target for the new wrestling promotion’s initial launch. DiSabato also said the company will use the blueprint designed by the UFC to try and bring the time-honored sport of wrestling into public consciousness.

“MMA has shown us the way,” DiSabato told MMAjunkie.com. “MMA has shown us how to present the show. … This is more about the show than it is about anything. We need to present ourselves in a manner that you’re used to with the UFC, wit Strikeforce. We need to act like we know how to do business. Wrestling is a business.”

In addition to the headliner, DiSabato confirmed that Team Alpha Male prospect and four-time All-American Lance Palmer (7-0 MMA) will compete at the event, as well Olympic silver medalist Stephen Abas (3-0 MMA).

Agon officials are expected to release further details, including its ruleset, in the coming weeks.

(Pictured: Ben Askren)