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ONE Championship welterweight titleholder Ben Askren needs top competition to maintain his current world ranking, but is he getting more of a challenge than he can handle on Friday?
It’s the key question heading into Friday’s ONE Championship 26 event, where Askren (14-0) meets veteran fighter – a man with more than 70 pro bouts – Luis Santos (61-9-1).
The event takes place at Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, and the event streams as an online pay-per-view in North America.
Askren, the former NCAA Division I national wrestling champion and Olympian who’s ranked No. 5 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings, puts his undefeated record on the line and looks for his first title defense when he meets Santos, a 15-year vet who’s riding a seven-fight winning streak with seven stoppages. In fact, over the past six years, the 35-year-old is 16-2-1 with 11 knockouts.
Although both fighters previously competed for Bellator MMA, where Askren held the organization’s 170-pound title, their paths never crossed in the cage. But there was plenty of talk outside of it.
Check out the video preview above as both fighters – as well ONE Championship executive Rich Franklin, coaches and media members – discuss the title fight.
And for more on ONE Championship 26, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.
Filed under: News
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