Covington slams Askren’s UFC debut against Lawler: ‘Herb Dean saved his life’

“If it wasn’t for Herb Dean saving his life, he was going to get his head knocked into the first row.”

Colby Covington thinks Ben Askren owes Robbie Lawler a rematch after their highly controversial bout UFC 235.

Askren was dropped, badly hurt, and almost finished in the opening seconds of the first round, but the former ONE FC and Bellator welterweight champion mounted a crazy comeback and ended up submitting Lawler with a bulldog choke.

Lawler, however, didn’t tap, hence the controversy. Referee Herb Dean called a stop to the fight after believing ‘Ruthless’ to be unconscious. But Lawler was, in fact, fully conscious and even briefly signalled to the referee that he was okay.

Speaking to MMA Fighting’s Shaun Al-Shatti in a recent interview, Covington called Askren ‘a little science school nerd’ and said the multi-promotion champ ought to give his ‘Hodge Trophy’ to Lawler after being slammed on his head.

“How could you be impressed?” Covington said of Askren’s UFC debut. “Ben Askren, he got dropped on his head. Let’s be honest, he should give his Hodge Trophy, that wrestling trophy, to Robbie Lawler, because Robbie Lawler took him down more times than he took Robbie down. And if it wasn’t for Herb Dean saving his life, he was going to get his head knocked into the first row. So the guy needs to run that back with Robbie Lawler and actually get a UFC win before he can start talking about the top of the mountain.

“He hasn’t done anything in this sport. He’s a 36-year-old virgin. A little science school nerd. So I don’t really have anything to say. He’s a bum. He can’t even throw a punch.”

UFC president Dana White wants to see Askren rematch Lawler, but ‘Funky’ has his sights set on Jorge Masvidal, who recently knocked out Darren Till in stunning fashion at UFC London.

According to ‘Chaos’, this is proof that Askren is ‘scared’ of Lawler, calling his win at UFC 235 a ‘fluke.’

“It shows how scared he is, how much fear is in him,” Covington said. “The fact that you don’t want to run that back and prove to the fans and prove to the people that run this sport that you’re better than that guy. It was a fluke. You didn’t win that fight. Robbie was still in it. [Askren] was gassed within the first two minutes of the fight. Gassed out. Like, didn’t know what to do, literally concussed on day street.

“So if you don’t want to run that back, then what are you doing here? You’re not out here to prove that you’re the best. You’re just trying to look for easy matchups and he’s just looking for that good payday and then he’s going to ride off into the sunset, because he’s a 36-year-old virgin. He’s got probably a year or two left of fighting in him. I don’t know if he’ll crack the top five by the time he’s 40. Just being honest.”

As for Covington, the former interim welterweight titleholder is expected to get the first title shot against newly-crowned champ Kamaru Usman. Usman battered longtime champ Tyron Woodley to win the belt at UFC 235.