Ben Askren (Dave Mandel/Sherdog)Report: Ben Askren vs. Luis Santos Targeted for Upcoming ONE FC Card on April 24 José Youngs January 19, 2015 News, Spotlight, WSOF The funky one is back. Multiple reports are indicating a welterweight title fight between reigning ONE FC champion Ben Askren and longtime MMA veteran Luis ‘Sapo’ Santos is being targeted for an upcoming ONE FC card on April 24 in Manila. Apex Sports Agency was the first to report the news. As two-time NCAA Divisoin I national wrestling champion and member of the 2008 US Olympic wrestling teaM, Askren (14-0), who is also a former Bellator welterweight champion, has long been considered one of the greatest pure wrestlers to ever compete in mixed martial arts. In his most recent out, the brash mouthed Roufusport product walked away with a dominant first round TKO over then ONE FC 170 Nobutatsu Suzuki at ONE FC: Reign of Champions in August. This win marked Askren’s fourth straight stoppage, three of which ended in TKO. Prior to this string of impresses performances, ‘Funky’ reigned atop Bellator’s 170-pound division for three years. During this time, Askren picked up decision wins over standout fighters such as Douglas Lima, Jay Hieron and what can only be refereed to as a mauling of Andrey Koreshkov, who was outstruck 248-to-3 by Askren in their main event title fight at Bellator 97. Santo (61-9-1) will enter this bout looking to improve on his seven fight win streak, with six of these wins ending by knockout. In his most recent effort, ‘Sapo’ scored a first round knockout in his ONE FC debut over Bakhtiyar Abbasov after connecting with thunderous body kick before finishing the bout with a violent soccer kick to the skull of his opponent early in he first round. To date his last loss came against reigning WSOF Canadian welterweight champion under the Bellator banner in 2012. He has currently holds an astounding 47 career stoppage wins, including 35 by way of knockout.
