Jordan Burroughs Destroys Ben Askren At Charity Wrestling Match Former Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs and UFC Welterweight contender Ben Askren squared off in a highly anticipated ‘Beat the Streets’ grapple match earlier tonight from inside the Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden New York. Burroughs was former University of Nebraska two-time collegiate national champion as well four-time World Champion. Meanwhile, Askren was a two-time NCAA champion at the University of Missouri and 2008 Olympian. Burroughs absolutely thumped Askren to 11-0 to score a technical fall win at the Beat the Streets Grapple event. The contest was for charity. Jordan Burroughs dominated Askren early in the match by hitting out a single leg takedown and dragged ‘Funky’ to the mat. Burroughs attempted head-and-chest double leg to lead a 5-0 in the ist minute and rack up 9-0 in the first frame. Burroughs opened the second round with another quick takedown which ended the match and earned him technical fall win. Check out below Burroughs takedown: He's a GOAT for a reason. Jordan Burroughs leaves no doubt over Ben Askren. pic.twitter.com/OK7Bif5rip — FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) May 7, 2019 Askren is slated to face Jorge Masvidal at UFC 239 in Las Vegas on July 6.<doc-sep>This past Monday night in New York City, a very special event was held in the world of wrestling. It was Beat the Streets 2019 and in the main event, we saw two of the sports’ all-time greatest competitors square off for the very first time. On one side, it was the ‘Funky’ undefeated former Bellator and ONE Championship welterweight champion, Ben Askren who has firmly established himself as one of the greatest wrestlers in MMA history. Across from him stood arguably the greatest American wrestler of all-time, the Olympic gold medalist and multiple time world champion, Jordan Burroughs. In the end, the match wouldn’t even be competitive as the Sicklerville, New Jersey native would shut out the UFC star 11-0 to get the victory. Regardless, the fact that the two were even able to make the match happen meant a great amount to the legendary Burroughs. On Thursday, he tweeted out a deep message of gratitude to Askren. “I was a 19-year-old college sophomore when I met Ben Askren for the first time. “Fresh off a historic collegiate career, Ben was widely recognized as the best wrestler of his era regardless of weight – he was an icon in a sport lacking big personality. Less than a year after graduating, he made the 2008 Olympic team at 163 pounds, my current weight class. “Meanwhile I was a 150-pound kid on the USA junior team, sitting on the edge of the mat during Olympic Team practice, hoping to no only pick up some technique, but maybe get to rub shoulders with some Olympians. As I sat in that sweaty wrestling room on those humid summer afternoons watching them prepare for the Games, my Olympic aspirations were born. Little did anyone know that I was going to be the man that would succeed Ben Askren. “Fast forward more than 10 years to this past Monday night. Both Ben and I walked down the stairs of the 200 selection of the Hulu Theatre heading for the raised mat on a platform in an area we were the headliners. “Ben, the wrestling icon turned MMA superstar. Me, once just a young matside dreamer turned wrestling superstar. And more than 6,000 fans to watch it all go down. “Regardless of the result, I knew this year’s Beat the Streets event was going to be epic. “To Ben – What you and I were able to do Monday night was incredible. Thank you for you willingness to put your reputation, and more importantly your health on the line for the sake of the sport that bread you. “For a few hours, the wrestling and MMA worlds stood still, and together, and wondered if you’d be able to – as you’ve done many times in the past – shock the world. But instead you got double-legged, more than once. All jokes aside, this match truly wasn’t about winning or losing, but rather supporting young kids in need and growing our sport. Because of your willingness to step toe-to-toe with me, countless new eyes have been drawn to wrestling. “Something Ben said at Sunday’s press conference that really resonated with me. ‘Stepping up to a challenge doesn’t mean just saying yes when you know you can win,’ he said, ‘but saying yes even when you know that you could get your butt kicked.’ “That’s heart. Respect.” Askren is set to compete against Jorge Masvidal in a pivotal welterweight contender bout at UFC 239 on July 6. This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 5/9/2019 This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM<doc-sep>On Saturday night, the UFC and Bellator go head-to-head in a rare Saturday double event. Even more rare, the Bellator card is arguably the stronger one. So instead of talking about any of those great fights, let’s discuss Jordan Burroughs coming to the UFC and who was a terrible UFC champion. Jordan Burroughs in the UFC If Jordan Burroughs gets a fight in the @UFC who should he face? A fellow novice, middle of the pack veteran or someone ranked etc.? #HotTweets — Mike J. Bautista (@MikeJBknows) May 9, 2019 In case you missed it, wrestling great Jordan Burroughs trounced Ben Askren recently and made comments about wanting to have an MMA fight after his wrestling career. First off, let’s be clear about one thing: should Jordan Burroughs join the UFC for any number of fights, he would instantly become the greatest wrestler to ever compete in the sport. It would not be close. While several Olympic gold medalists have competed in MMA before, none of them have the level of acclaim that Burroughs does. And for that reason, I think he is one of the few fighters that it would actually make sense for his MMA career to start in the UFC. Normally, I would be against a complete MMA novice jumping straight into fights against elite opposition. Have you seen Daniel Cormier’s early fights? They were awful. But that being said, if Burroughs is really only interested in a one-off fight, having him fight some scrub on the regional scene makes no sense. If he was transitioning full time, yes, let’s get him reps first. But for a one and done, let’s throw him in the deep and and see what happens. If MMA were the 100-yard dash, elite wrestlers have a 50-yard head start, and Burroughs’ pedigree should give him at least a 70-yard head start. Either give him Askren (for the worst kick boxing bout in UFC history) or let’s see if he can double his way through like, Darren Till or something. Ben Askren and a title shot? If Ben Askren beats Masvidal, is a title shot next? — Brever.in.a.tree (@obi1inatree) May 10, 2019 I think that is the most likely outcome, but there could be some wrinkles. First, Askren has to win. Second, so does Kamaru Usman. If Usman wins, it doesn’t matter if Tyron Woodley beats Robbie Lawler in their rematch, Askren vs. Usman is the fight to make. (Tyron is five wins away from getting a rematch with Usman - you just can’t sell that fight after the completely one-sided ass-kicking that was their first fight). However, if Usman loses, then things get tricky. My best guess is that if that happens, Askren would step aside and let Woodley have the title shot - assuming Covington and the UFC want that. But would they? For all his talk, Covington sure never seemed to actually want to fight Woodley when the time came to sign for it, and frankly, the UFC would prefer for Askren to get the belt over Woodley. I think it’s fair to say that if Askren had beaten Robbie Lawler without controversy, they would have gone ahead and done Askren vs. Usman next over even Covington, so the question becomes would Askren take the shot over Woodley? I would hope so and then Woodley can jump to middleweight, where a dude he beat just challenged for the interim belt, because that’s what should have happened the moment he got washed by Usman. Askren vs. GSP? Will we see GSP vs Askren in 2020? — Chris Poole (@MapleBacon88) May 9, 2019 Speaking of ol’ Ben Askren, I think there is one more ancillary benefit to the UFC trying to get a belt on “Funky”; doing so would be their best bet to get one last fight from Georges St-Pierre. Yes, GSP is retired but in MMA retirement is more a state of mind than a state of being. And though GSP seemed content to retire, he also made it clear there were other fights he was willing to take *cough* Khabib *cough* but the UFC wasn’t interested in playing ball. Should Askren get the belt, GSP would have to look at it as a chance to come back for one last legacy-shifting moment. Askren would certainly be game; he has aggressively lobbied for a fight against GSP for years. And GSP vs. Askren with a belt on the line is big business for the UFC. Rapid Fire How long until there’s a union? Do you think Stipe wins the rematch? Do you think we will continue to see fighters fight closer to their natural weight? What would 165 do for the UFC? — matthew chavie (@MattChavie) May 9, 2019 We’re changing the game, folks. That’s right, instead of answering one Hot Tweet at a time, I’m just gonna rapid fire Matthew’s numerous pertinent questions. Never. If a $4.2 BILLION sale couldn’t get fighters to collectively realize the value they are leaving on the table, nothing ever will. Nope. He certainly can, but DC is better. Took him all of 4 minutes to figure out Stipe and bolt him. I suspect it happens again. Not to a significant degree. The idea of a weight/power advantage has too much pull to it, despite the increasingly mounting evidence that fighters benefit dramatically more from speed and, ya know, not being completely drained from literally torturing your body for a week just 24 hours before going into combat with another professional fighter. Sh*t things up something proper. It adds another belt to an already busy weight range. People want to act like adding a division would ease some of the title strain because there are more belts, when what would actually happen is 155 and 170 (they aren’t getting rid of their historically greatest division, accept that) champions would want to go for another title, creating even more logjams in that division. Super not worth it just so we can all see Kevin Lee not win a belt again. Hometown Advantage How much does it matter to fight in front of a home crowd? — Eric Stinton (@TombstoneStint) May 9, 2019 Definitely some, but unclear how much. Statistically it would almost certainly be skewed towards having an advantage because promoters don’t often book hometown fighters to lose - that would be terrible promotion. Also, when you watch Jose Aldo decapitate somebody and then jump into the crowd and get mobbed by his countrymen, it’s hard to argue against the emotional boost a hometown crowd can give fighters. But I think maybe the biggest factor for being the hometown hero is the judging. Judges sit cage side and, like it or not, in close fights and close rounds, your perspective of who is winning can absolutely be influenced by crowd reaction. If every time Jessica Andrade lands a punch tonight, the crowd goes wild, meanwhile it’s silent when Rose works a jab, that’s gonna stick in the judges’ minds and may affect their scorecards. Someone with an infinite amount of time on their hands should crunch the numbers and let us know. ESPN+ PPV Do you think fighters,who get PPV points, are now going to try and renegotiate their contracts so they get a bigger guaranteed purse to make up for the drop in PPV buys due to ESPN+ ? — Chris Packham (@cpackhamdrums) May 9, 2019 The big stars will, but whether they will succeed is another thing entirely. After all, that is rumored to be what actually derailed Brock’s return to the UFC. He wanted a higher base salary and the UFC refused. But with the truly dismal numbers UFC 236 did, any fighter with clout who isn’t asking for more flat money, is doing it wrong. The Worst UFC Champion Who is the worst fighter to ever win a UFC championship? — Paul Garcia (@hpaulg) May 8, 2019 I love this question. Aside from the fact that some people are about to get furious at me, this is great because it’s the exact type of nonsense, unanswerable question that one can spend hours overanalyzing.<doc-sep>
To those in know, there was a certain inevitability to the result in the Beat The Streets NYC headlining showcase between Jordan Burroughs and Ben Askren. Both men had represented Team USA in the Olympic Games in the past, but each of these world-class athletes had taken a very different career trajectory in the time since. While one made the switch to the multi-faceted world of mixed martial arts, the other stuck to his guns and dominated the sport he grew up in – skyrocketing his way into the pantheon of greats within wrestling. Given the nine years that Ben has spent carving out his unbeaten career in MMA, matching him up with a world-champion level athlete of Burroughs’ quality under any other circumstances would have been a complete and utter mismatch. And yet, Monday’s showdown was perfect in so many ways. The contest itself wasn’t competitive in the slightest but for a short while, the eyes of the combat sporting world – both wrestling and MMA – were locked on a benefit show set up to cultivate youth development in underserved communities. Burroughs, of course, handed Askren very little in the way of a shot – running out in dominant fashion by a score of 11-0, ending the match by technical fall. But it didn’t matter all that much. He knew he would win. Ben knew he would win. We all knew he would win. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPgIoa7oZ8Q Taking to his social media platforms in the direct aftermath of last Monday’s showcase, Burroughs paid respect to his fellow wrestling icon – and in one memorable section of the statement, revealed what Askren had said to him in the match’s direct aftermath. “Stepping up to a challenge doesn’t mean just saying yes when you know you can win but saying yes even when you know that you could get your butt kicked.” I’m sure there was some part of Askren that believed he would be able to shock the world but in truth, what I’m getting at here is simple. Ben’s stock is at an all-time high within the MMA world. In July, he will step into the biggest fight of his career – a UFC 239 showdown with Jorge Masvidal that could well propel him into a title-shot if he emerges victorious. In the last few months, he has become one of the most popular stars in the UFC – taking full advantage of his long-awaited opportunity in the big leagues after a career spent dominating on the international scene while being plagued by the great ‘what if?’ that followed him no matter where he went. Askren has arrived to mainstream MMA in a massive way – and in many ways, his earning potential is directly linked to his popularity with the everyday fan – the type of fan who wouldn’t understand why he was always doomed to lose to an active wrestler of Burroughs’ credentials. And yet, two months out from UFC 239, knowing full well that he could hurt either his body or his reputation, he stepped in there and took one for the team. Speaking post-match alongside Burroughs, Askren explained how delighted he was to see a packed venue for both the showcase of wrestling on the night and the important, worthwhile cause that brought them all together. “I was standing in the crowd, waiting to come down and take my ass-whooping. Hot damn! It’s May 6, on a Monday and there’s 5,000 people in this theatre here to see some wrestling.” “I thought there was a chance I might get a takedown, I wasn’t under the delusion that I was going to beat him. But he came a little harder than I thought he was going to come.” At one point early on in the match, Askren was vaulted off the stage completely and going into this one, he would have no doubt been aware that an injury could have derailed his mixed martial arts ambitions in July completely. And yet, he did it anyway – against a powerful double-leg artist like Burroughs who came with all of the intensity you would expect of him. Who knows how many eyes Ben was able to bring over from the world of mixed martial arts but I have to say that I am in complete admiration of his decision to take this match.