A Quote by Ben Askren

Having the letters UFC behind my name is not the be-all, end-all it is for someone. Some people think once they get into the UFC, that's it. — © Ben Askren
Having the letters UFC behind my name is not the be-all, end-all it is for someone. Some people think once they get into the UFC, that's it.
Rampage Jackson came to the UFC with a brain. He came to the UFC with a huge following from being in Asia with Pride. He was a personality before he came to the UFC. You don't see them putting marketing money behind him to blow him up.
Gray Maynard? Kenny Florian? All these guys, they're UFC fighters, that's all. They're pushed by the UFC, but when they leave the UFC, they're forgotten. When's the last time you heard Josh Neer's name? You haven't. When's the last time you heard about Roger Hurerta? You haven't. They're no ones anymore.
To stay in the UFC while fighting top opponents... tell me one easy fight I had in the UFC. I have a history in the UFC.
I feel for the guys in UFC who helped open the UFC up. Obviously, I'm getting blackballed there by the UFC, so I'm kind of feeling on both sides. If a promotion or somebody in that promotion decides they don't like an individual, then they get to make up the rules, and the fans don't get a say in it at all.
When I couldn't sign with the UFC, I think my goal of being Number 1 in the world went out the window. There's just no way of doing that at Welterweight without being in the UFC. I could go 50-0, and as long as it's outside the UFC, I'm not going to be Number 1.
I'm very comfortable in Bellator. It would be interesting to have superfight between a Bellator champion and an UFC champion. I wouldn't have to necessarily migrate to the UFC. We could just have one duel. When it comes to the best fighters in the UFC, I think I'm better than all of them.
Bellator offered me a job. UFC never offered me an opportunity to fight. There's no question that UFC is the top. It's a machine. A lot of people, including myself, have helped build the UFC to where it is today.
Every fighter is dreaming about the UFC and then once they can get into the UFC, they are dreaming about a title and I've made all of my dreams come true.
I need that name in Rashad Evans, a name that UFC and the fans respect. They know his skill set. They know what he can do. You go out there and beat a guy like that, you've proved yourself to the UFC and to the fans.
At first, whenever I first got into the UFC, I was like, 'oh my God, I'm in the UFC.' When you come from where I came from, being in the UFC basically meant I was on top of the world.
When I got into the sport and wrote down my goals, it was never to be a UFC main event or to be a on a UFC main card. It was to be the UFC champion.
Many people are blind and only care about the UFC. That's the wrong way of thinking. The proof is Michael Chandler, coming from Bellator, having such a devastating victory in his UFC debut against a highly ranked opponent.
There is still boxing, but there's just no money in it anymore. If you went around the world and asked a bunch of people under 20 years old, to name a boxer, I bet they couldn't name one. They'd be able to name a UFC fighter though. When I was younger there was Mike Tyson and we watched everything. I'm not saying its gone, or its going to go, and it could easily be ignited by another fighter, but it's just that idea that UFC is more violent, that desire for more spectacle, has captured people's attention.
Anyone in the UFC, that should be your goal, to get the UFC belt and to fight for that title.
I know more about UFC than the wrestling circuit. I think everybody's a pretty good guy in the UFC.
I think I owe a lot to the UFC and UFC fans.
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