According to a Jan. 22 report from MMA Junkie, Bellator MMA star Ben Askren makes no apologies for his wrestling style.
Askren thinks most MMA fans want to see a crazy knockout or bone-breaking submission, but that won't cause him to change up his gameplan.
"It doesn't bother me," Askren said of fans and critics razzing him for utilizing wrestling instead of striking. "I don't think they appreciate what I'm doing. But I don't expect them to appreciate it. The majority of MMA fans don't have a great technical knowledge base. What they want to see is people snapping arms or people knocking people out, and there's no appreciation for the finer points or jiu-jitsu or wrestling. But I'm OK with that. I know that, and it's not like I either feel the need to change it, or two, to think I actually can change it."
Askren (10-0) is slated to fight Karl Amoussou (16-4-2 MMA, 4-1 BFC) on Jan. 24 at Bellator 86. The fight takes place at WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla. The event's main card airs on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com.
"I think the only thing I've got to fear is if he comes out with the bum-rush in the first two minutes," Askren said. "That's his strategy, if you want to call it that – and it's a terrible strategy. But he comes out hard in the first couple minutes, and after that he really fades. So I'll just come out to fight and I should be fine.
"If he doesn't win in the first 90 seconds, he has zero chance of winning the fight. And in the first 90 seconds, he has about a 3 or 4 percent chance, maybe."
Askren admits he won't be looking for a knockout punch. He'll utilize his superb wrestling skills to get the win.
"I started wrestling when I was 6 and reached my peak when I was 24," Askren said. "So it took me 18 years to get that good. Am I going out there and looking for the knockout ever? Probably not. I doubt I'll ever do that. I'm smart enough to stick with what I do well. I know I wrestle and use my offensive jiu-jitsu better than almost anyone in MMA right now. So I'm going to stick to my guns."
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