Ben Askren Uncovers the Reasons Behind the Lack of Elite Wrestlers in UFC’s Higher Weight Divisions

Are there no good wrestlers in the UFC’s heavier divisions? While discussing who could pose a challenge to light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira if he managed to defeat Magomed Ankalaev, UFC veteran Ben Askren surmised that the wrestler-to-fighter pipeline had been stalled due to financial efficacies.

Askren cited examples of Ryan Bader and Phil Davies to explain that why they couldn’t make Olympic teams, they were still top-tier and made the transition to fighting.

“My take is that a lot of the American wrestlers, they can get paid enough where they can actually want to stay in wrestling… you can kind of go through a list of guys who maybe weren’t elite enough to make an Olympic team but they were like, really really good but now for whatever reason, I  think with these RTCs, the good wrestlers aren’t really making the transition as often,” Askren said in an interview with Daniel Cormier.

RTCs are regional training center programs that specifically pair qualified and talented athletes with elite coaches, excellent training partners, and world-class coaches to prepare them specifically for the Olympics. Their motive is to raise the relevance of the sport on college campuses.

Former UFC double champion Cormier nodded in disappointment but admitted Askren was right. He took it further and claimed this wasn’t unique to the light heavyweight division but a shared phenomenon across the promotions’ heavier divisions.

During DC’s time in the sport, he was surrounded by wrestlers like Jon Jones, Cain Velasquez, and Brock Lesnar. But in the last 5-7 years, the divisions have become rather arid.

After letting that sink in for a second, the pair then returned to their original conversation about who would beat Pereira if Ankalaev failed at UFC 313.

Will Ankalaev wrestle Pereira? Askren comments

DC doesn’t know. Neither does Askren. But both of them agree that Ankalaev should totally break his word and take Pereira to the ground as soon as the fight starts.

DC claimed that Pereira had to fight the 8th ranked fighter in the light heavyweight division, Khaleel Rountree because there was no one left to challenge him.

“How has he cleaned out that division when he’s only been fighting for 3 years? He’s been the champion two times, in two weight classes. He has defended the belt in multiple divisions…”

DC then contended that Ankalaev would have to break his word and try to wrestle Pereira if he were serious about winning the title.

“I think there is this kind of thought that he’s posturing, saying that he is going to stand with him and trade with him. Because he and Alexander Rakic had a good fight but it was relatively competitive.”

Earlier last year while he was trying to convince Pereira to give him his title shot, Ankalaev had claimed that he would not shoot for a takedown at least for the first 15 minutes.

But strategies change, especially since Ankalaev doesn’t plan on playing nice anymore. After the fight was confirmed, the Dagestani challenger let Pereira know what he would do to him for a year of ‘ducking’ him.

With UFC 313 only a couple of months away, both fighters have some time to prepare a camp specific to each other’s unique style of fighting. Hopefully, it would be a big fight which would live up to its hype.