One of these days, Ben Askren will get a chance to defend his ONE welterweight title. It just won't be anytime soon. Askren preserved his undefeated record with a smothering victory over Nikolay Aleksakhin on Friday night at ONE Championship 41, taking a unanimous decision over the Russian contender in a non-title affair after Aleksakhin failed to make weight, just as Luis Santos failed to make weight against Askren in late 2015.
Not surprisingly, Askren (15-0) dominated much of the fight on the floor, setting the pace in the opening round by wading into a body lock, throwing Aleksakhin into side control, then methodically going to work with elbows, punches, and knees to the head of his grounded opponent.