Ben Askren had quite the UFC debut and not entirely in a good way, either – except of course for the fact that it ended in victory.
At UFC 235 this past weekend, Askren was slammed on his head and received a beatdown from former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler. But Askren hung tough, managed to avoid losing by stoppage and rallied to take control of the fight before locking in a bulldog choke that forced referee Herb Dean to stop the fight at the 3:20 mark of the first round.
The only thing is, the finish has been under immense scrutiny since the moment Dean stepped in, when Lawler instantly reacted in disbelief and indicated that he was OK while in the hold. Fans on social media reacted strongly to the unfortunate conclusion. UFC President Dana White afterward came out against Dean’s stoppage and said he’d like to run it back between Askren and Lawler.
And so, for our Daily Debate, we wanted to know what you thought of the controversial stoppage. Do you think Askren and Lawler need to be booked for an immediate rematch?
The results (via Twitter) were extremely close:
To hear the MMAjunkie Radio crew weigh in, watch the video above.
For complete coverage of UFC 235, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Dan Tom. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio. You can also check out www.siriusxm.com/siriusxmfightnation.
