Winning wasn’t enough to get Ben Askren into the UFC. Perfection wasn’t enough. His award-winning background and Olympic pedigree — they weren’t enough either. He had to will it into existence through persistence and force of personality. He had to plow the narrative forward. He had to antagonize his way there.
Finally, he has arrived, ready to stake an indisputable claim as one of the best welterweights in the world. Somehow, that still lies in question, even as he stands unbeaten, even with the outsized expectations surrounding him. After years of verbally sparring with UFC president Dana White, of openly theorizing on his prospects within the division and against its fighters, it had to be this way.