Before his most recent win – and his first-ever Bellator title defense – welterweight champion Ben Askren (9-0 MMA, 6-0 BFC) engaged in a sustained and very public trash-talking campaign with opponent Jay Hieron.
But ahead of Friday's Bellator 64 headliner with challenger Douglas Lima (21-4 MMA, 3-0 BFC), cooler heads have prevailed.
Askren told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio) he loves trash-talking as much as the next guy, but he's not going to be the instigator.
"I'm cool either way," he said. "Jay brought it on himself and started with me, so I went back at him. But Douglas has been quiet, and I've got nothing against him, so I see no reason to go at him. I do enjoy talking trash, but I don't start it with people.
"But if they start with me, we can go from there."
Askren, a two-time NCAA Division I national wrestling champion (and two-time runner-up), has experienced a mostly flawless transition into MMA. He joined Bellator in just his fourth bout, won the organization's season-two tournament, and then won the belt from Lyman Good.
Now, he looks for his second successful title defense when he takes on Lima at Bellator 64, which takes place Friday at The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It airs as part of the MTV2-televised main card following prelims on Spike.com.
Askren hopes his latest defense proves more dominant than his first, when he narrowly edged Hieron for a split-decision win. While he showcased his new standup in the fight, it wasn't nearly as effective as he hoped it'd be.
"I was disappointed in the fight overall and the standup," he said. "I thought I was going to beat Jay bad. ... I was really disappointed in that. I got a little predictable as the fight went on and didn't change it up."
Now, he's been extensively fine-tuning his striking at Duke Roufus' gym in Milwaukee.
"It's coming along nicely," he said. "Mixed martial arts these days isn't just one discipline and being great at that and using that to be good at everything and being able win everywhere. My first order of business was getting that jiu-jitsu under my belt. I got my brown belt within a couple years. But I knew my striking was lacking, and I needed to go out and find someone to improve that. Now I'm here at Roufusport doing that."
Lima earned his title shot with a season-four five championship. The run included a decision victory over Steve Carl and a pair of highlight-reel knockouts over Chris Lozano and Ben Saunders.
Color Askren unimpressed, though.
"He had a great tournament," he said. "He has that big right hand that we saw in the tournament. I think that's his best asset. Overall, aside from that, he landed two one-punch knockouts. I don't think he was overly dominant in those fights otherwise.
"I think there's a lot of room for me to take advantage of his weaknesses."
Askren, who was used to a busy wrestling schedule, competed just twice in 2011. And like Lima, he's had a five-month layoff heading into this weekend's event.
Askren has kept busy. But he won't mind if Lima hasn't.
"Hopefully Douglas Lima took a little time off, got a little fat, and will be coming in cutting some serious weight and not be as sharp as last time," he joked.
For the latest on Bellator 64, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.
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