Former Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren trolled his former promotion for not having any events booked for its 2021 schedule yet.
The calendar just turned to 2021 and Bellator is looking to keep up its momentum after a strong end to 2020 following a long break due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Once Bellator returned to action in the summer, the promotion ran events from a bubble at the Mohegan and finished strong with a number of the promotion’s biggest stars fighting. Ahead of the 2021 season, Bellator has created more excitement by signing several big-name free agents.
So far, though, Bellator has not made any sort of announcements about its schedule in 2021 despite the calendar already flipping years. Bellator president Scott Coker has promised the promotion will hold over 20 events this year, but as of yet, there is no word on when those will take place. The lack of a 2021 calendar was enough for Askren to want to take a shot at Bellator. Check out what the former Bellator welterweight champion had to say on his Twitter.
Why does Bellator have ZERO events on their calendar??https://t.co/oRZW2cfohy
— Funky (@Benaskren) January 4, 2021
Why does Bellator have ZERO events on their calendar??
To be fair to Bellator, it was just the holidays, and the promotion likely will be coming out with news about its latest slate of fight cards in the next few weeks. But when you compare Bellator to the UFC, who are busy announcing their PPV main events up to March, Askren couldn’t help but take a shot.
It was just a few weeks ago that Coker said Askren would get knocked out by Jake Paul in a boxing match, so there is no love lost between these two. While Askren was once a star in the organization, that was many moons ago. These days, though, nothing negative either side says should surprise anyone.
Do you think Ben Askren has a point about Bellator’s barren 2021 calendar?