UFC: Ben Askren says Conor McGregor needs to ‘shut up and fight’ after Poirier put down
- Askren thinks Dustin Poirier rematch would be perfect comeback bout for ‘The Notorious’
- ‘Stop trying to act too good for it … take a fight, any fight, we don’t care’
Ben Askren has told Conor McGregor to “shut up and fight” after the Irishman’s latest barrage of Twitter bravado.
McGregor has not fought since a fourth-round submission defeat by Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018.
Before that, he was out of the Octagon for nearly two years, having faced Floyd Mayweather in a mega-money boxing bout after beating Eddie Alvarez at Madison Square Garden in November 2016.
“Conor, shut up and stop trying to act too good for it. Take the damn fight. Take a fight, take any fight, we don’t care,” Askren said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show.
“We just wanna hear you shut up on social media and actually take a fight. Give me a damn break. It’s been a year, and before that another year.
“Just shut up. No more tweets, let’s fight already. Conor can tweet, he just can’t tweet about fighting everyone without hopping in there.”
Dustin Poirier challenges Conor McGregor to ‘beat your record’ and defeat him in 1:30
Askren’s annoyance was triggered by McGregor belittling Dustin Poirier’s suggestion for a rematch on social media.
“It’s one of those nonsense things. I think he spends a large portion of his day drinking so a lot of his responses are shenanigans, or nonsensical,” Askren added.
“I was getting annoyed. People on my mentions think I don’t get to have an opinion because I’m a fighter. I enjoy the sport of mixed martial arts not only as a coach, not only as an athlete, but I enjoy watching it, following it. I was getting annoyed Conor kept saying, ‘Oh, I wont fight you’.”
McGregor and Poirier are No 2 and No 3 respectively in the division rankings and Askren thinks “The Diamond” is a good option for the former lightweight and featherweight champion.
“The Dustin fight, that’s probably a great fight for him,” Askren said. “Dustin’s got a lot of hype, he just came off a world title shot. If there’s a fight that’s gonna get Conor back in it, boom, that’s it.
“I don’t think they’re gonna make Khabib-Conor, it’s just not gonna happen. Nate Diaz is tied up. Who are Conor’s other options? Justin Gaethje is, but if you’re Conor, I’d rather fight Dustin Poirier before I fight Justin Gaethje.”
