A wild UFC 235 opened up multiple opportunities for Ben Askren, who made his UFC debut during the pay per view event last weekend. Following his controversial win over Robbie Lawler, along with a shocking upset that resulted in Kamaru Usman becoming the new welterweight champion (after defeating Tyron Woodley), Askren is entertaining all sorts of opponents for his next fight.
One possible matchup could be Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title; however, when speaking to Luke Thomas on The MMA Hour, Askren said he would have to get the approval of former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, a good friend of Askren his former wrestling teammate at the University of Missouri.
"I would consult Tyron first," Askren said.
"But as long as he kind of gave his blessing, yeah. Of course."
Woodley lost the belt to Usman at UFC 235 after previously defending it four times; he believes he deserves an immediate rematch despite getting obliterated in the Octagon. The idea of a match-up between Kamaru Usman and Ben Askren was first presented by Usman's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, on social media earlier this week.
"If Colby gets screwed again, I've got no issue with that," Askren continued.
"Colby is a jabronie. This was a path that I haven't even gone down, because I didn't really see a scenario where Tyron lost to [Usman]. So I hadn't even started thinking this way. And now that he's calling me out, I probably have to talk to Tyron a little bit and see where we go from there."
Of course, there's more to it then both fighters agreeing and Tyron Woodley giving his blessing. UFC president Dana White also has to agree to it, and he has already said that Usman's next opponent will be Colby Covington. Dana White also
said that he wants a rematch between Ben Askren and Robbie Lawler since their first fight ended with a "bad stoppage."
Askren has already gone on record saying he does not want to fight Robbie Lawler a second time since it won't benefit him at all. While Askren would obviously take a title match, he's aiming for the winner of Darren Till versus Jorge Masvidal on March 16 in London.
Who would you like to see fight Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title next?