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Demetrious Johnson and Joe Rogan have discussed the 2018 blockbuster MMA trade between the UFC and ONE Championship.
The trade that sent Johnson to ONE Championship in exchange for Ben Askren has recently become a hot topic again. Rumors about how the exchange went down were discussed when 'Mighty Mouse' was on Rogan's podcast.
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During an episode of the JRE MMA Show, Johnson broke down the trade from his point of view by saying:
"I heard you had something to do with it as well. Ben Askren has been wanting to fight in the UFC for a long time. ONE Championship and the UFC were talking back and forth between Hunter [Campbell] and Matt Hume, and Malki [Kawa]. They were like, hey, let's do a trade."
He continued:
"We'll give you [UFC] Ben Askren for Demetrious Johnson. At one point, I heard that Dana [White] was like, Nah, I don't wanna make that happen... I was hanging out somewhere, and somebody said, you know, Joe Rogan had a piece in it... I was told that you kinda convinced Dana."
Since joining ONE Championship, Johnson has been a vital part of the promotion's expansion, leading some in the MMA community to declare them the winner of the exchange. Yet, others could argue that the UFC's previous plans to discontinue the flyweight division led them to trade 'Mighty Mouse' for Askren.
Watch Demetrious Johnson and Joe Rogan discuss the 2018 trade below:
Joe Rogan denies influencing trade with Demetrious Johnson and Ben Askren
Another intriguing aspect of the trade was Demetrious Johnson revealing rumors of Joe Rogan being an influence. During the same episode, Rogan denied being associated by saying:
"That's not really accurate. I definitely was trying to get them [UFC] to get Ben Askren, but I was trying to get them to get Ben Askren back when he was with Bellator. When he was in his prime."
It's challenging to decide which promotion got the better deal. Johnson has been a superstar for ONE Championship, but without Askren, there is no flying knee from Jorge Masvidal. Nonetheless, the excitement produced by the trade then and now leads to curiosity about more trades between MMA promotions in the future.
