Someone please hit me, pleads Ben Askren after wiping Zebaztian Kadestam off the floor
Former US Olympian invites any fighter to provide him with a bigger challenge after dominating Swede to stay unbeaten at One Championship
Ben “Funky” Askren’s reign over the One Championship’s welterweight division is set to continue for just as long as the American wants it to, given the way he cast aside the challenge of Sweden’s Zebaztian Kadestam at the Shanghai Oriental Sport Centre on Saturday night.
It took a few seconds for the 33-year-old Askren to get Kadestam in his clutches and then he basically bullied him like a nasty big brother might, raining down the blows at will. The few times the Swede made it upright, it wasn’t long before Askren closed in, and closed him down again and the referee called an end to the punishment at 4.09 of the second round with yet more unanswered blows coming.
Askren moved his career mark to 17-0 with the victory – and then sent out a plea.
“It’s like they taught us at martial arts when we were kids,” said Askren. “It’s not about beating people up, it’s about not being beaten up. But I just wish we could find someone who could hit me. It’s been two fights now and no one’s laid a glove on me.”
It’s hard to know just where the challenge might now come from for Askren, out here in Asia or anywhere for that matter. He’s more MMA monster than man.