UFC 235 came and went and as predicted it gave us headlines for better or for worse. Askren’s bout with Lawler was no exception. Everyone was wondering how Askren would hold up fighting on the UFC level – what had initially started as excitement quickly turn to anxiousness when the camera panned to Lawler taking breaths before the fight. He looked like a starving tiger who had not ate in quite some time and was ready to feast.
As soon as the fight began, Lawler picked up and slammed Askren on his head – it was scene straight out of the WWE. Askren scrambled to gather his wits as Lawler unleashed a barrage of punches. It appeared as if Askren’s debut would not make it past the first half of round one when he took the fight to the ground and got Lawler in a chokehold.
Askren’s remarkable reset was so quick and to the eye it looked like it was over for Lawler when his right arm went limp. This prompted Herb Dean to check on Lawler’s arm and he called a stop to the fight. Upon replay, it showed Lawler had given a thumbs up and human error contributed to arguably the biggest controversy of the night. Quick stop or not – this fight captured everyone’s attention.
Afterwards, Askren addressed the crowd and called those opposing the stoppage as losers and called out Dana White (these two are nowhere close to being friends anytime soon FYI). The spotlight just follows Ben Askren so overall I think the fight was actually a win. Because at the end of the day we are still talking about Askren and looking forward to the next fight.
The MMA Angle 