Bellator
Ben Askren believes Bellator 56 Title bout with Jay Hieron will be "very one-sided"
Oct 26, 2011 - 8:55:25 PM Ben Askren believes Bellator 56 Title bout with Jay Hieron will be "very one-sided"

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Bellator Fighting Championships has perhaps their biggest fight ever this Saturday night in the Welterweight Championship bout between Ben Askren and Jay Hieron. The two are amongst the highest ranked fighters on Bellator's entire roster, and for Askren he faces what should be his most legitimate test to date.

However, while most see the matchup that way, Askren doesn't believe Hieron offers anything against him in this title fight.

"I think this is going to be very one-sided," Askren said in an interview with MMAWeekly.com. "I think No. 1, for starters, I think he's got cardio that's not too great. I think we saw that in the Rick Hawn fight and even in the Brent Weedman fight. We saw Weedman win the third round. He definitely gets tired as the fight goes on and we're in a five-round fight.

"Secondly, he's got decent wrestling, but if I want to take him down, I'm going to take him down, and I want to take him down, so I will. That's just a fact. Then No. 3, I don't think he's very good off his back and that makes for a really bad match-up for him."

Askren doesn't even think Hieron should be in the fight after close decision victories over Brent Weedman and Rick Hawn, and thinks Hieron's been too "arrogant" about wins that could have gone the other way. Askren said regardless of the end result of Saturday's fight - be it TKO, submission, or decision - he's going to make it clear who the winner was. His questioning of Hieron's spot in this fight doesn't mean he isn't up for it, however, and sees it as the easier title defense for him anyway.

"I thought fighting Jay Hieron would be the best scenario for me," he said. "Because No. 1, it's definitely an easier fight than Rick Hawn would be for me, and No. 2, he's going to open his mouth and allow me to showcase my trash talking skills and then I'm going to enjoy putting a beat down on him."

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: Hieron's wins over Weedman and Hawn were both at the very least questionable, so the argument is there that he shouldn't be in this spot. But the argument is moot because he's in the fight. As to Askren's contention about the fight being one-sided, I can see plenty of ways for it to be that way for him. Hieron has already fought three times this year, and his cardio has not been at a real high level in those fights. Askren is capable of pushing the pace for the entirety of their 25-minute fight, and if Hieron can't keep up with that it's going to be a long night for him.