What was the thought process behind Ben Askren vs Robbie Lawler? 

Chael is the GOAT of RU-vid MMA speculation.

I dont understand how anyone can or could think Lawler is a safe fight for anyone

They should have put Askren against someone who will engage in some trash talking like Masvidal or Till to build up the fight. He literally called everyone out besides Lawler.

Brendan Schaub the type of guy to say "100%" instead of "I do".

chael...."the only man who can split something in half, and get four equal parts

Chael ,,However" Sonnen

Askren should stop wearing Khabib's wig.

It's gonna be an interesting day when the brass at UFC fire Dana and hire uncle Chael.

Let me present to you Robbie "nice guy" Lawler

Chael the GOAT! Keep up the great content!

They think Lawler will embarrass him. Dana wants to prove that Askren doesn't belong there because of Dana ego

Much respect sonnen you always keep’inn it real 🤙🏾

Chaels the type of guy that will bogart the joint

On point Chael.... UFC hoping shades of koschek coming for Askren.

Great points all around. Glad I have Chael, I barely have to do my own mma research anymore.

Brilliant as always Chael!

ooooh snap! here it comes

Ufc wants to obliterate Ben. Too much funk

What was the thought process you throwing the Fedor fight?

Love this commentary ....chael is the man....straight forward and no bs

People sleeping on lawler he’s a horrible Matchup for ben

Chael and his damn storylines...

I believe they made this match. For a few reasons. 1) Put Ben against a Crowd favorite. 2) Put Ben against someone who will knock him out if he doesn't take things serious. 3) If Ben KOs Lawler, the whole division is put on notice. 4) A crazy war will happen and that's good for future business with Ben. 5) This is not a safe fight and a great matchup to introduce Ben to the masses. Ben should win but with Robbie anything can happen. This is gonna be an action fight and possibly steal The Show💯

Lawler isn't an easy night for anyone. If a person can run through him then they're truly something special.

Robbie lawler might starch him for real. He got extra motivation to put that L on Ben but I’m pulling for Ben looking forward to see him in the UFC.

I was looking at it from the opposite perspective and just assumed someone was pissed at Robbie. I mean the guy's coming back from a torn acl, and you're gonna put him in there with a wrestler like Ben Askren? If that knee isn't 100%, it's toast if Ben gets ahold of the leg and pulls a funk roll on him.

Chael, you are one my favorite MMA/UFC Professors, and thank you.

That was awesome Chael

Even of that's true, the UFC would NEVER say that. I personally think its just a fight that makes sense because Lawler is proven so if Askren can beat him then he is a top dog and can get big fights. But things can never be that simple for chael.

Those two Robbie Lawler fights are what made me an mma fan

The insight of a veteran, with the passion of a fan to speculate and analyze... That's why I like Chael now.

Couldn’t agree more. Just look at movies like Gladiator and even Troy, to an extent, to see how those sorts of narratives are appealing; people love it when and individual pushes back against “the man”

I want the ruthless one fired up for this fight

It wss Stone Cold vs Vince not Hogan

Man I was almost left in shock by how much of a good point you made in this vid.

Absolutely love and RESPECT the honorable fighter. Intense yet respectful. Honestly nice and honorable; yet when the time come is ready to bang. Then back to respect afterwards regardless of the outcome. THAT is TRUE Martial Arts Spirit. Damn the money or the crowds; it’s warrior vs warrior... then respect and generally learning from each other .

Llega gente de Latinoamérica hasta acá?👀

The thought process is that on paper, Lawler is the worst match up in the top 5 for Askren. The Ufc always give bad matchups to champions of other organisations, Alvarez vs Cerrone comes to mind.

As a very casual fan of MMA i watched Askren for the first time and found it interesting, his style contrasts well and the confrontation with white is the driving factor , Chael nails it again .

Great fight! That’s the idea behind the matchmaking

Chael is such a mark for his hypothetical scenarios.

You dont need 2 trash talkers Chael. Ben will play heel and Lawler face. And this is not a good matchup for Ben. Till would have been a good matchup. Lawler can negate wrestling. He trained with matt Hughes for Pete's sake

In my mind its classic UFC, anyone who thinks they can hang in there the brass usually throws the fridge at them.

Chael I thought the exact same thing before I even watched this. You're 100% correct.

Chael make a video review of Trump's Press Conference

They want Ben to lose so they give him over the hill lawler. Makes sense.

Askren is like a glob of human super glue. I've really enjoyed his work so far. I hope he does well in UFC, he definatley can beat some ass. People sleeping on him just don't know him is all.........

Robbie may be a little shopworn from the wars he's had, but I see this match-up as a good test for both fighters, it just may be that the UFC wants both questions answered as to Askren's place in the ranks, and Lawler's future prospects, i.e. is he still a contender or is he done (as far as the UFC is concerned). Robbie is probably very happy to have been given this opportunity to raise his stock value and get back in contention for a title shot. Conversely, Lawler's the kind of well rounded champion striker that will be a good test for Ben.

This is a tough fight for Ben. Dana White wants him KO’d lol. It will backfire on Dana though AS usual. 🤟🏾💯

UFC's new challenge is to make Askren not boring.

It’s a perfect fight for either guy question can this guy hold Robbie down.

Robbie and Ben have great respect for each other.

I'm sorry , but I think you have this one wrong, and I'm not sure it helps Askren either. Askren plays the heel, and it's kind of hard for me to buy into that gimmick if you're going to make me feel sorry for him. Two things I know for sure.... Ben Askren was signed to the UFC because the fans made it happen (Rogan included). The second, Dana White loves to make money. The longer Dana can keep Ben in the octagon, the more money the UFC will make. You want me to believe Dana White signed a guy so he could get rid of him? Sorry, I'm not buying it. I could definitely see Dana attempt to derail a non profitable fighter.... However, nobody knows what Ben Askren does yet.. So give me a break Chael.

If UFC really wanted to throw Askren to the wolves and have him start his UFC career with a lost, i think they would give him Wonderboy. Wonderboy is a much tougher opponement for Askren than today's lawler.

Preach!!! So right!!!

Let's not forget, his teammate Tyron, is the guy that laid Robbie on his back with one punch. Robbie has never fully recovered from that loss. Ben does not wanna talk shit and get Robbie fired up, because a fired up Robbie is as dangerous as anyone in the UFC period!!!

Dana definitely wants askren to do well, who knows about being champion but Dana definitely doesn't want him to be starched . To give up dj to ONE would be silly considering it's the start of ONE getting a western audience. I think hes just doing what he thinks both fighters want and wishes them both the best

Yeah yeah Ben vs Robbie is cool but how good is Conor McGregor

That's why there's only one Chael Sonnen... Broke it down perfectly.

Chael would be an amazing teacher...even better MMA coach. I hope he gets into coaching someday.

I'm sorry but Ben is asken for a beating if he steps in there with ruthless Robbie

Wasn't Lawler supposed to fight Stephen wondergirl Thompson?

I support your videos bcuz I'm hoping it's more successful than your fighting career 👍

I agree, Dana was super dishonest at the presser. Would prefer it if he told the truth about giving Ben a bad matchup

Chael sounds almost too much like Rush Limbau.

Robbie's going to get his ass kicked

@Chael Sonnen Please get a pop screen for your mic. :)

You are so right on this! That story line would be epic! PPV buys would be huge simply because it would feel like Ben vs Dana

Robbie Lawler is as dangerous as Connor was against Khabib. And Ben Askren is as dangerous as Khabib was against Connor And we know what happened thereafter..🤔

Askren vs Maia ? Why not ? Both are elite grapplers. It would be a chess match much more interesting to watch than Askren vs Lawler. I mean, Demian Maia's BJJ stylistically has much more to offer against a guy like Askren. Specially fighting off his back than anybody in the UFC, mostly because of his BJJ guard. His guard is incredible! Since we all know Askren's game plan is basically to wrestle and maul ppl with his ground and pound, we can just assume with these elements that there's no other result than a good matchup with them for sure. This fight would also be viewed as a clash between wrestling and BJJ for the fans, which everybody would wanna watch only for that. It helps to sale the fight cuz ppl love this kind of things. Boxing vs Wrestling , Karate vs Muay Thai, and etc... This kinds of shows are just entertaining. That's why UFC has started like this btw. So why not come back to its roots? Anyway Askren vs Lawler can be a good fight though or might be boring. Who knows....

That should be a hell of a fight

I enjoy your analyses and comments. I would like to hear your opinions of the brother/sister act; Christian and Angela Lee. I am becoming less and less a fan of UFC. My thanks to you, keep up the good work. Ed.

Right on time

Agreed Chael

I like it, it will show where they are heading next. Cheering for Ben.

Askren vs Kamaru is askren’s biggest challenge in top 10, other than Woodley

Ben’s got a style that really forces you to wrestle him. So I don’t think Lawler’s gonna be able to just sprawl and brawl... because Askren doesn’t shoot the type of takedowns that can be sprawled. He’ll be digging underhooks in the clinch and slowly working him down. Keep in mind, Askren is on another level with his wrestling. He doesn’t care if you defend his takedown, he’ll just cling onto any limb he can grab and won’t let go til the end of the round. And usually by the end of the round, Askren’s on top. You can’t judge the first few takedown attempts and assume how the fight will go. Ben can flop on his face the first three takedowns, but then the 4th gets a little closer, then the 5th. By the 8th takedown attempt the opponent starts slowing down a bit... and Ben’s just getting started. He can fight like this for hours without getting tired. By the third round, Ben’s just easily dropping you on your butt, moving around on top of you, landing pitty pat punches to your head, and just trolling you basically. He fucking breaks people man, world class fighters spar with this guy and speak wonders of him. Look what he did to fucking Douglas Lima and Andrey Koreshkov in Bellator... those guys are LEGIT and Ben DOMINATED them. Thompson is probably Ben’s worst top 5 matchup, IMO. Thompson can really yank his leg out of takedown attempts, and he can run away the entire fight. His footwork and counters are so good. I don’t think Ben would have an easy time getting a hold of Thompson. Whereas Lawler probably won’t be too hard for Askren to just grab early.

Spot on

When Lawler came back to the UFC, which has been a while now, he already was an aged, old fighter from starting so young. And since his return, he has been in legit WARS. Some of the best fights ever are Lawler vs Rory, Vs Condit, Vs Hendrix 2. I think he had that one more run and he went on and went all out and put his body and mind on the line. Robbie hasn't been the same since the Condit fight. The way he was KO'byWoodley, i don't think would of happened a few years earlier, before those wars he was in. I think Lawler's body and chin is on the same decline as what happened to Liddel. Liddel was in the same type of wars as Lawler. And then suddenly he couldn't do it any longer. So i think Askren wins this fight easily. However, if this was still the Lawler of old, when he first won the strap, i think Askren would be in for the fight of his life, that Lawler is arguably the worst possible match up for Askren just coming in to the UFC. And i think Chael is right and thats why he's Askren's first fight, they think he gives Askern a tough match up. I would agree on that if it was a few years ago, but Robbie just isn't that same guy any longer. When you fight that style and been in those wars, and have taken the shots he has, father time just suddenly shows up and then chin and head just can't take it anymore. I think Askren wins this pretty easily, by pretty much taking Lawler down at will and possibly wins by submission or decision.

Couldn’t agree more

I agree, Lawler did amazing against top wrestlers/graplers like: 'Steroids-'Hendrickx (who btw almost beat GSP), McDonald,... He even fought Jacare at his prime time for the 185 Strikeforce title (Lawler lost that one though). But Ben Askren is a small 170. I don't know if the theory "Dana wants Askren to lose" is true, and Idk who's gonna win BUT, Lawler IS definitely one of the worst match up for Ben

great business move for Dana.. he wins either way.. if Askren loses, Dana loses nothing and gets a little 'I told you so' come uppance. But if Askren wins, he's got a great new product to hype.

Chael heel or no heel u sir r the shit period please keep doing what you do!!!

Askren vs GSP

I dont know just watched Ben fight a huge guy for his first fight in ONE and the guy manhandled Ben at the start, picked him up and body slammed him. Which is exactly where Ben wanted to be. After that body slam, Ben just took the guy apart on the ground and this guy was an experienced grappler. I think Ben will be just fine.

How can you not love this man

Woodley vs Colby, Ben vs Robbie and 3rd card Darren Till vs Israel adesanya. Now that is a good card.

Askren has called out everyone and none of them have responded.

Spot on Chael Sonnen! They let Ben fight Robbie because they expect Ben to lose vs Robbie.

this will be an very interesting match up

The thought process behind this matchup is simple. Lawler is NOT an easy mark. Dana White is basically saying to Askren, okay, you have given us a lot of trouble over the years, if you want to be part of the club, you will have to beat one of the best of all time in the division. If you win, more power to you, if not, we do not expect to hear from you again.

Chael understands marketing very well, probably better than any other fighter. However, this does expose the degree to which MMA matchmaking is not run purely as competition, but as a spectacle.

Tony Ferguson the type of guy to dip the milk into the box of Oreos

They actually fighting or this speculation? I know theres been talk but is it actually on now ?

Ruthless my favourite fighter ever not the best but loved him made any fight he inn worth watching snd watched him from his debut in ufc at 18 the progression in his craft to now is wow and him and Mcdonald the best fight ever in ufc hands down

I agree 100%

Chael predicted next year will be called 2019. Damn this man is just too good!

Ben is the UFC’s new Chael Sonnen...trash talk wise and I love it

Keep doing what you are doing Chael.. the MMA world loves you

They out here trying to get Askren knocked out of the picture, but when Lawler goes to the ground Askren is going to maul him