Rory MacDonald and Ben Askren tangle on social media
Could Rory MacDonald and Ben Askren actually fight in Bellator?
It isn’t unusual to see Ben Askren try to pick fights on social media. The ONE Championship welterweight champ has always been a bit prickly online, and has used his Twitter account to fan the flames on many an argument with other fighters. This time though, he got into it with an unlikely candidate - Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald.
McDonald, who usually lets his fighting do the talking for him and doesn’t engage much online, was asked by a fan about a potential fight with the “retired” Askren. Rory said he was down:
im good with that to
— Rory MacDonald (@rory_macdonald) April 18, 2018
Then Askren decided to chirp, and could only get a tepid response out of MacDonald initially:
i disagree
— Rory MacDonald (@rory_macdonald) April 18, 2018
But they went back and forth a bit about talking to Bellator CEO Scott Coker about the fight, before Rory finally got a little heated:
i have asked @ScottCoker about getting you in bellator for a fight, i guesse you need to do your part
— Rory MacDonald (@rory_macdonald) April 18, 2018
woah woah you remember the day we were face to face, and i challanged you there on the spot and you put your tail between your legs and said i only fight for money and walked off, the only one stalling is you, if u want it to happen make a deal with bellator and im ready to go
— Rory MacDonald (@rory_macdonald) April 19, 2018
Of course, Askren didn’t agree with his assessment of their meeting, and there was more back and forth:
and then i replied to youwith the challange
— Rory MacDonald (@rory_macdonald) April 19, 2018
anyhow im about the future, not gonna dwell on you back peddling when it came down to it, do your part and sign up like a professional
— Rory MacDonald (@rory_macdonald) April 19, 2018
MacDonald picked up the title in his debut fight in the promotion, defeating Douglas Lima back in January. Askren, a former Bellator champ himself, last fought in November when he took Shinya Aoki out in less than a minute. He says he is retired, but has talked up a possible bout with Georges St-Pierre in 2019 as well.