5 most controversial UFC moments of 2018

#3 UFC trades Demetrious Johnson for Ben Askren; considers cutting the Flyweight division

Ben Askren signed with the UFC in a controversial trade with Demetrious Johnson

Before 2018, former Bellator and ONE FC Welterweight champion Ben Askren was usually considered one of the best fighters to never set foot inside the UFC.

‘Funky Ben’ officially retired from MMA in 2017 with a record of 18-0, but remained officially under contract with ONE, meaning any move to the UFC was probably unlikely. Or was it?

In October, rumours suddenly flew in from left field that Askren was on his way to the UFC – and in an unprecedented “trade”, former UFC Flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson was heading in the opposite direction.

In early November, the rumour turned out to be true, and contracts were finalised. Askren will make his UFC debut in 2019, while Johnson seems all set to do the same in ONE.

So why was this controversial? The UFC rarely works with competing promotions, and while plenty of fighters cross from the UFC to Bellator and vice versa, a “trade” in this sense had never been done before – and immediately brought into question whether MMA promoters have too much power over their fighters. But that wasn’t all.

Shortly after the news, another rumour began to float around that with Johnson now outside the promotion, the UFC would be cutting the Flyweight division from their ranks – either forcing the 125lbers to move up to 135lbs or releasing them from their contracts completely.

And while this one hasn’t been confirmed yet – Dana White is remaining tight-lipped – a number of top Flyweights have already been released.

Whether or not the Flyweight division is about to be killed remains a question mark right now but it feels likely, and if that’s the case, it’ll cause some huge controversy as how can the world’s biggest MMA promotion simply choose not to feature a weight class?

We shall see, but for now, the Askren/Johnson trade definitely goes down as one of the most intriguing – and controversial – moments of 2018.