Former UFC welterweight contender Ben Askren may be retired, but he still has plenty of energy to poke some of his former adversaries, including Kamaru Usman.
Usman is plotting a UFC comeback after three consecutive losses, including his most recent defeat to Khamzat Chimaev last November. Over the last few weeks, he’s gone back and forth with UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad on social media.
Kamaru Usman believes he can still compete with the elite welterweights despite his recent losing skid. Askren, who has had a history of bad blood with Usman, feels Muhammad’s trash talk is an attempt to lure Usman into an easier title defense.
Ben Askren says Belal Muhammad wants an “Over the hill” Kamaru Usman
During a recent episode of the Funky and the Champ podcast, Askren shared the potential intent behind Muhammad’s trash talk towards Usman.
“I actually think Belal [Muhammad] is getting the better of [Usman] with the trash talk,” Askren said. “Usman has a big name, he’s a former champion, one of the longest-reigning welterweight champions. One of the ways that Belal could see this, is this is a guy with a big name, held the belt for a while, and now he’s over the hill. So he could be an easier opponent potentially…
“[His last fight] was a while ago, already a year ago. So once you get over the hill, you get over the hill fast. He’s a little younger than I am. Maybe, potentially he’s looking at that fight versus Shavkat [Rakhmonov], who is relatively unknown, but he’s not huge yet…I would say he’s likely over the hill. I do not like him, that being said, I believe my judgment to be correct. In that fighters over the age of 35 at 170 and under are like 2-37. So the facts are on my side as well.”
As of this writing, Kamaru Usman hasn’t responded to Askren’s remarks.