ONE Championship’s Eddie Alvarez doesn’t feel Ben Askren needs to learn striking following his first professional loss.
Askren went viral for all the wrong reasons earlier this month when he was knocked out by a flying knee from Jorge Masvidal just seconds into their UFC 239 encounter. Primarily a wrestler, Askren rarely engages in the standup and was later criticized for his one-dimensional style, especially as he was knocked out while attempting a takedown.
Fellow welterweight Stephen Thompson, for one, advised him to not just focus on his wrestling.
“But then, watching that, it’s like, you got to work on your striking,” Thompson said. “You got to work on your head movement, you can’t just walk forward. Masvidal just took better advantage of it, he knew exactly what he was going to do… If I had to work with him [Askren], I would definitely work a little bit more on his movement, his fighting stances, some head movement. Movement is everything when it comes to the fight game.”
However, Alvarez, doesn’t necessarily agree with Thompson. The former UFC lightweight champion, instead, believes as long as “Funky” sets his takedowns correctly, he can continue to dominate as he did for most of his career.
He has room to grow striking but don’t need to learn to strike as long as he sets up his takedowns correctly and stays safe , very dominate in his areana #askugk
— Eddie Alvarez (@Ealvarezfight) July 24, 2019
Alvarez answered other questions in a Q&A on Twitter on Wednesday.
For one, the rematch he wants the most is with Conor McGregor, whom he lost to at UFC 205 back in 2016.
Without a doubt Connor , I am much better than that #askugk
— Eddie Alvarez (@Ealvarezfight) July 24, 2019
As for the fight at lightweight that he never got, it’s still current UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov:
Nate would have been fun but rn Khabib would be the only name I’d be interested in , biggest name and biggest money fight in the division rn #askugk
— Eddie Alvarez (@Ealvarezfight) July 24, 2019
Lastly, he is picking Nurmagomedov to retain his title at UFC 242 on September 7 against Dustin Poirier, who Alvarez has notably faced twice.
Khabib #askugk
— Eddie Alvarez (@Ealvarezfight) July 24, 2019