Bellator Champ Ben Askren believes he can't accomplish his goals in Bellator, says move to UFC inevitable

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Bellator Welterweight Champion has no qualms about speaking the truth of his limited potential in Bellator. The 26-year-old Olympic wrestler has done nothing but dominate in the promotion, winning five fights under that banner, but Askren knows that if he's to be considered the best in the world, he's not going to be able to do that where he's at right now.

"I love what Bellator's doing for me, and I've got nothing against that, but my goal is to be the best in the world, and I simply can't accomplish that in Bellator at this point," Askren said to MMAWeekly.com.

"If I somehow could, I'd be fine to stay in Bellator."

Instead, Askren knows eventually he'll be in the UFC, and sees all of his roads bringing him to the biggest organization in the sport.

"It's just a matter of time [until I'm in the UFC]," Askren said. "Because since they bought Strikeforce and obviously Pride's no longer around, or any other viable Asian promotion, I mean that's it."

"I'm on the top of Bellator and I'm ranked 15th in the world, and so I think every single person above me is either in the UFC or Strikeforce, which is essentially all UFC... If I want to accomplish the goals I want to accomplish, then [a move to the UFC is inevitable]."

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Penick's Analysis: Askren's taking a very different approach to his current spot than fellow Bellator Champ Eddie Alvarez, who at this point in his career is content to make his money in Bellator and isn't concerned with the UFC's fighters being considered the best. Askren knows the only way he can prove just how good he is will be to take out fighters ahead of him on the UFC's welterweight roster. The 170 lb. division is especially controlled by the UFC's welterweight roster, with all top 10 fighters outside of Nick Diaz under one banner. And if they get their way, Diaz will be back on that roster as well to face Georges St. Pierre next. So for Askren to make his move up the ranks, he'll eventually need to go through that roster, and hopefully that's something fans will get to see, because as he develops his striking game he's going to be one of the top fighters in all of the sport. His wrestling and grappling is already proving to be too much for most, and if he gets his overall game caught up to that he could make his way to the top.

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