Ahh I don’t know about that. Ben is the last guy who’s still at the top level of MMA, who is truly one dimensional. He may land a few punches while his opponent is worried about the takedown, but don’t be mistaken. He has no striking. He doesn’t even have good ground and pound. All he has is world class wrestling, and he’s adamant that it’s all he needs. Every fight is the same, he comes straight at his opponent and attempts to take them down over and over again until he gets them down. Then he holds them down.
Ben Askren has stated that he believes wrestling is a trump card in MMA, and that unless someone has elite wrestling, he can beat them. So I don’t think we’ll ever see Ben Sprawl and Brawl. He’s either gonna wrestle, or die trying.
This is why I say Demian Maia, Woodley and Thompson are his worst matchups, and all for different reasons. Ben will insist on the takedown no matter what... and against Maia, I think he gets submitted. Against Thompson, I think he struggles to cut off the cage and get a hold of Thompson, and gets lit up. And against Woodley, he may not get the TD at all.