Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Bellator MMA Fighters

9. Ben Askren

Another interesting inclusion, just like Brooks. I also left Askren off my list, as did a few others, while others had him fifth. Askren certainly has a lot going for him. He was a perfect 9-0 in Bellator, including four welterweight title defenses. He utterly dominated everyone he faced in the organization with the exception of Jay Hieron, whom he won a split decision against. Aside from that, he has dominant decisions over Dan Hornbuckle, Lyman Good for the title, Nick Thompson, Douglas Lima, and even finished Karl Amassou and Andrey Koreshkov in his last two outings with the promotion. My problem is his lack of competition at the time. I've been accused of being a Bellator homer, but believe it or not, I didn't think much of the promotion in the early 2010s, considering its roster weak overall. On paper, Askren's victories over future welterweight champions Lima and Koreshkov are very impressive. Trouble is, those were baby versions of both men, shadows of what they would later become. Lima was only 24 and had yet to perfect his striking, on top of having far weaker takedown defense and BJJ than what he would later develop. Koreshkov was a mere 22 and couldn't wrestle at all, an area that would later become a major strength of his, even using it to utterly dominate Benson Henderson, one of the best grapplers in UFC lightweight history, among others. Personally, I would much rather have this spot taken by Phil Davis or Johnny Eblen. The latter is a modern-day, far superior version of Askren, an elite wrestler with endless cardio who can actually strike—and very well at that—on top of having far more impressive wins in Gegard Mousasi and John Salter as part of an 8-0 record in Bellator.

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