The First Major Trade In MMA History Is A Done Deal - Demetrious Johnson (UFC) for Ben Askren (ONE)

Now I know that I talked your ears off (or maybe…eyes off? How does that saying work when I’m writing blogs that you’re probably reading silently at your cube?) about this monumental Demetrious Johnson for Ben Askren trade last week, but over the weekend it was finalized and made official, so I figured I’d finalize it here as well. If you’re completely in the dark as to what’s going on, and don’t understand how there could be a “trade” in an individual sport such as mixed martial arts, read this:

Long story short – The UFC and former Flyweight Champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson have been at each other’s throats for years, it probably wasn’t the most healthy working environment for him, and Ben Askren is arguably the greatest mixed martial artist of all time never to step foot in the octagon, so they cut a deal with ONE Championships over in Singapore to release their respective fighters from their rosters allowing them to sign with the opposite promotion.

It’s pretty damn amazing, and I really hope it becomes somewhat commonplace in MMA because getting a trade alert on my phone was so god damn enthralling it made me wish I were more invested in team-based sports. And even more amazing than the trade coming to completion? Ben Askren’s scorched fucking earth attitude towards the UFC roster on Twitter.

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Dude’s a MFing savage and literally anybody on the roster could get it, based on this.