Why do people say Ben Askren 'has only beat nobodies'?

His last 5 wins-

Andrey Koreshkov (13-1):

• Beat Lyman Good.
• Finished Marius Zaromskis.
• Beat Jordan Smith.

Karl Amoussou (16-6-2):

• Submitted Bryan Baker.
• Beat David Rickels.
• Submitted Chris Lozano.
• Knocked out Kazuhiro Nakamura.
• Submitted Alex Yakovlev.

Douglas Lima  (25-5):

• Knocked out Ben Saunders x2.
• Knocked out Bryan Baker.
• Finished Michail Tsarev.
• Knocked out Chris Lozano.
• Finished Ryan Ford.
• Beat Steve Carl.
• Beat Clint Hester.

Jay Hieron (23-7):

• Beat Rick Hawn.
• Beat Brent Weedman.
• Beat Jesse Taylor.
• Beat Joe Riggs.
• Knocked out Jason High.
• Beat Jake Ellenberger.
• Beat Pat Healy.

Nick Thompson (38-14-1):

• Knocked out Eddie Alvarez.
• Beat Paul Daley.
• Submitted Ansar Chalangov.
• Submitted Chris Wilson.
• Beat Keith Wisniewski.
• Submitted Josh Neer.
• Beat Brian Gassaway.
• His losses are for the most part are all to LEGIT competition.

It seems like the only argument for why Askren 'sucks' is because he has beaten "nobodies".. why is this a thing when it so clearly not true?

* Edited at 12.11.2013, 12:25 PM ET *

Just because they aren't UFC level doesnt make them not legit, do you really think every WW in the UFC is actually a UFC caliber fighter or that the UFC has every good WW? Not being known by fans makes them not legit? I think you are giving too much credit to fans there.


Lima beat current UFC fighter Clint Hester and the current WSOF champ which is where people were dying for Askren to go. Before losing to Ben he was on a 9 fight win streak and looked dominant and even beat former UFC fighters. 


Koreshkov had dominated very solid fighters before Ben absolutely clowned him.


He beat Hornbuckle who also beat the current WSOF champ and was widely considered as a top 5 best WW outside the UFC.

Saying he hasnt beaten legit competition is ludicrous and quite frankly wrong

* Edited at 12.12.2013, 2:03 PM ET *

@Live, I don't think with Askren it's about UFC-level or not, I think it's about this "ranked 6th in the world" he keeps talking about. He's beat formidable opposition, but who of them actually puts him in the top 10? And from Dana's POV, who of them mandates a top 10 payroll?

So "legit competition" in Askren's case is a different kind of legit.

That said, what Dana said is ********, Askren isn't in the UFC solely due to him not being exciting enough so that Dana can use him to try a prove a point with, both showing he won't take "Bellator rejects" and maybe even pushing good prospects that want to fight in the UFC in the future to other organizations. If Askren was more exciting he'd be signed with Eddie Alvarez money in a heartbeat.

But due to Askren not being a fighter Dana "has to have and now" he can stick into the mind of a given talented young fighter that a) Bellator will give him a hard time if/when he gets the call and b) that just being in Bellator for a while could seriously hurt his chances to get in the UFC and you can bet you bottom dollar he's going to LFC/WSOF/OneFC/my back yard before he's fighting for Bellator (at least in Dana's perfect world scenario, that is).

* Edited at 12.12.2013, 2:23 PM ET *

@Yossgold

You got it right on the mark and I completely agree and that was what I was trying to get at. Really out side Jay none of the competition he beaten would likely be able to have extended stays in the UFC, yet people rank Askren in the top 10.

* Edited at 12.12.2013, 2:28 PM ET *