Must-See Fights of the Week

Ben Askren vs. Ryan Thomas
Bellator Fighting Championships 19, May 20, Grand Prairie, Texas

It does not take much for a grudge match to develop when Askren is involved. The puffy-haired Olympic wrestler has become known as much for his tendency to make off-the-cuff declarations, like how he would eat Georges St. Pierre alive in a straight wrestling match. Whether or not Askren would pull a Cronus on St. Pierre has taken a backseat, however, to the controversy surrounding his first encounter with Thomas at Bellator 14.

What started as a spirited grappling match ended in confusion when referee Dave Smith inexplicably called off the fight while Thomas was trapped in a first-round guillotine choke. Thanks to a fortuitous series of events, Thomas now gets his wish for a rematch in the semifinals of the ongoing Bellator welterweight tournament. Now, he has to figure out a way to avoid getting completely out-grappled all over again.

Save for an attempted triangle choke, Thomas had no answer for Askren’s vastly superior wrestling ability and aggressive guard passing. Any time an Olympic-caliber wrestler in his athletic prime transitions to MMA, he can take down anyone he pleases, but Askren’s seamless implementation of Brazilian jiu-jitsu makes him a unique presence in the sport. A wrestler who naturally passes guard and looks for submissions can be best described as an uncommon archetype. Thomas was not built to deal with him.

Always a versatile offensive fighter, Thomas’ struggles are almost entirely centered on his inability to defend takedowns and submissions. On his feet, Thomas has proven a fluid striker, but he overcommits on his strikes and lacks the sprawl to make up for his aggressiveness. His seeming willingness to pull guard and look for submissions, which only leaves his guard open and easily passed, has become particularly puzzling.

Thomas can win this fight by moving around and picking at Askren’s obviously weak striking defense, but he had to know that was the case in the first fight and failed to act on that knowledge. For all of Askren’s dynamism on the mat, he has not taken well to striking, as he remains flat-footed with an awkward stance that is far too squared up. Askren’s ability to circumvent striking altogether and execute takedowns at will has kept his head firmly attached thus far.

Thomas could not stop Askren’s takedowns and was clearly confused by his unorthodox scrambling during their first encounter. The former captain of the University of Missouri wrestling team, Askren wrestles the same way Miles Davis played jazz -- with a disregard for convention and an emphasis on originality and improvisation. None of that has changed in the month since these two fought -- reason enough to skip the grain of salt when picking Askren.

Truly talented prospects evolve at a rate that becomes virtually incomprehensible for most, and something as trivial as an extra 30 days of training can result in quantum leaps for a rookie; some veterans would be lucky to take a baby step in the same amount of time. Thomas remains good enough to give Askren a good roll on the mats, but he will not accomplish much else.