ONE FC welterweight champion Ben Askren feels AXS TV Fights' Inside MMA program showed him an obvious bias towards the UFC—and a network executive doesn't seem to disagree.
The "Funky" one appeared on Friday's edition of the program, and his interview via satellite began to head south after he was aggressively questioned by co-host Kenny Rice as to whether or not he wanted to compete against the best in the world in the UFC. Askren said:
100 percent and I don't disagree with you, and the UFC has created a monopoly-type situation where everyone does have to go there. But don't think for a second, don't think for a second, that there's a lot of employees in the UFC that are not happy where they're at. Don't think for a second that if they get the opportunity to go somewhere else and make a good living, and get treated a whole lot better, that they won't go. And uh, nothing lasts forever, and the UFC's had quite a monopoly the last few years...if they don't change their tune, they're gonna start losing some fans.
As Askren began to claim that Bellator and ONE FC were gaining ground on the UFC, things took a bizarre turn. Rice cut Askren off out of nowhere before the undefeated fighter (14-0) had finished his thought.
"Ok, Ben. Ben thanks, we, we gotta close down...we gotta close down the soapbox. Thanks for your time, it's always interesting," Rice interrupted.
"Well, you guys can't cut me off like that," Askren began.
"Yeah, we can," Rice interjected. "Yeah, we can, we just did. Best wishes and congratulations on ONE FC," Rice said as Askren smiled and and co-host Bas Rutten laughed.
As expected, the former Olympian was not happy with the way the segment concluded (note: following tweet contains language NSFW).
Hey @KennyRiceSports I think that is what @KingMoFH would call some @ufc dick riding. keep an open mind brother, times are changing
— Ben Askren (@Benaskren) September 6, 2014
After sending some subsequent tweets to network owner Mark Cuban, AXS TV Fights CEO Andrew Simon intervened and did his best to try and smooth the situation over.
@Benaskren I apologize for @InsideMMAaxstv closing mic.We respect your opinions & look forward to having you back to continue the discussion
— Andrew Simon (@andrewAXSTV) September 7, 2014
Simon also made it clear that he wanted to talk out the incident one-on-one with Askren, politely trying to set up a phone call.
@Benaskren I don't have your phone number, but would appreciate opportunity to talk 1 on 1. Feel free to DM or I can send mine
— Andrew Simon (@andrewAXSTV) September 7, 2014
Askren, also a former Bellator welterweight champion, was expected to head to the UFC following his release from the promotion in November, but he ended up signing a two-year, six-fight deal with ONE FC instead, per MMAWeekly (h/t Yahoo Sports).
UFC President Dana White has recently left the door open for Askren (per MMAJunkie), but the Roufusport standout clearly isn't sold on the Zuffa-owned promotion just yet.
Does Rice owe Askren a personal apology for the way his interview was handled Friday, or was the show really just running short on time?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
