Demetrious Johnson and Ben Askren are on the same page when it comes to who gained the upper hand in the UFC vs. ONE Championship swap.
The pair of major promotions made waves when they traded two of the best fighters to ever compete in their respective organizations.
Photo by Isaac Bracken/Getty Images
Demetrious Johnson and Ben Askren say the UFC and ONE Championship won the trade
In 2018, Demetrious Johnson and Ben Askren switched organizations and made history.
'Mighty Mouse' captured the ONE Championship, shared a beautiful trilogy with Adriano Moraes and even made it into the Hall of Fame. Meanwhile, 'Funky' finally got his chance in the UFC, entertaining fans around the world with his nonsense, defeating Robbie Lawler and playing his part in the flying knee knockout of Jorge Masvidal.
That said, the pair has come to the conclusion that both promotions took advantage of the situation.
In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Johnson said: “My position was that I said 'everyone has won'. I need to go to ONE Championship and make good money.
WOW: Joe Rogan is launched into a wall by a UFC legend after the playful spar takes a turn
The flyweight legend continued: “You have to come to the UFC, get a chance to fight and see what you can do there.
“The UFC got you, and you were very good at creating buzz. Your talks were actually intelligent talks. You would give very good excerpts.
“So if it wasn't for you, they might not have had the rise of Jorge Masvidal without that flying knee… Without that flying knee, Jorge Masvidal, 'Street Jesus' would never have risen, you wouldn't have Kamaru Usman, you wouldn't have Leon Edwards.
“Then you're looking at ONE Championship. They had me, I could fight, I got knocked out there to show that their competition is actually legit. Then I came back and beat Adriano Moraes. So I think all in all everyone won. What do you say?
Askren responded: “That is the correct answer. ONE championship, which was worth its weight in gold to them, was that I wasn't going to fight. I was done.
“If you stay in the UFC, I assume you'll keep fighting, at least for a while. And in ONE Championship I was really done, I wasn't fighting anymore, so they essentially sold an asset that wasn't on the market – you had a five-year run.
“I think you've done some wrestling, mixed rules match, you've done MMA, you've done a lot of stuff there.
“I think the most correct answer is that everyone won. I got what I wanted; you got what you wanted.”
Demetrious Johnson tells a fascinating story about how he spoke to his father
Throughout his illustrious career, Johnson has cemented his position as one of the best fighters to ever step inside the cage.
With UFC and ONE Championship belts on his mantelpiece, the icon decided a few years ago it was time to track down his biological father.
After finally finding him, Johnson called him and said something amazing.
Sheesh: Potential Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall venue revealed as UFC moves closer to a fight
Related posts
Comments