Gina is 7-1, and her last win was in October 2008 over a fighter with no wikipedia page. Her win before that was over a fighter who was 4-1 at the time and is now 7-8-1. Since 2009 Gina has been pursuing an acting career.
Askren is 12-0, and his last win was in July 2013 over then-undefeated Koreshkov. Sherdog listed that fight as Beatdown of the Year. Askren is also an Olympian, and he won college wrestling's Heisman.
Recently White said Gina is legit and deserves an immediate title shot. A few months ago he said Askren is not good enough to be part of the UFC's 92-fighter welterweight roster.
Rather than signing Askren, Dana signed welterweights like Yakovlev (21-4-1), Sobotta (13-4-1), Means (20-5-1), Loughran (11-1), Jinliang (8-2), and Aubin-Mercier (4-1). He also signed women's bantamweights like Smith (6-5-1) and Braszler (15-8).
EDIT: I originally wrote Askren's fight won fight of the year when it was actually beatdown of the year.
Askren is not a crowd pleaser and wont fight for 8k.
FCM - Askren is not a crowd pleaser and wont fight for 8k.Nobody should be fighting in
the UFC for 8/8, that's fucking bullshit.
U Fight Cheap 
Which outlets called that foty?
FCM - Askren is not a crowd pleaser and wont fight for 8k.
Gina was a one dimensional striker from the old wave of WMMA fighters and who got destroyed by a much much much worse Cyborg half a decade ago... And she'll probably make more money in one fight being a strawman for Rousey to tear down instead of facing Zingano or Cyborg than Askren would make fighting for fucking years in the UFC lol
GayGuardMooseSaucy -FCM - Askren is not a crowd pleaser and wont fight for 8k.Nobody should be fighting in
the UFC for 8/8, that's fucking bullshit.
This, UFC undercard fighters are nothing like the boxing undercard fighters you see on Showtime or HBO. Just a different MO, boxing promoters go for TRUE regional guys. Like dudes just starting and you'll see 0 win guys in a boxing prelim
WeidmanBrokeTheLEGend - Which outlets called that foty?This?
T H R I F T Y -^WeidmanBrokeTheLEGend - Which outlets called that foty?This?
KZTT_W85 -T H R I F T Y -^WeidmanBrokeTheLEGend - Which outlets called that foty?This?
.
Dana White doesn't want his golden goose to lose... That's why McMann fought Ronda after a long layoff... McMann was a legitimate threat, she should have had a warm up fight. This is the same reason they want Gina to have an immediate title shot... It's a joke.
ChaosOverkill -KZTT_W85 -T H R I F T Y -^WeidmanBrokeTheLEGend - Which outlets called that foty?This?
.
Sorry, I was thinking of Sherdog's Beatdown of the Year award. I stand corrected.
leapinglefthook - Dana White doesn't want his golden goose to lose... That's why McMann fought Ronda after a long layoff... McMann was a legitimate threat, she should have had a warm up fight. This is the same reason they want Gina to have an immediate title shot... It's a joke.I think the reason Carano fights rousey first is because carano would most likely lose to any contender they gave her. Carano Rousey is just a cash grab for ppv bucks. Everyone knows she loses. If Dana really wants money he should put carano vs Rousey on a fox card. Then stack the undercard with exciting fights and try to get some new eyeballs on the sport. Saturday's fox card was exciting but clearly they aren't doing enough to get people to tune in.
Musashi - OP seems confused.
"UFC ready" means someone the fans want to pay and see compete at an elite level.
So you have to be two things.. 1. entertaining and 2. skilled
1 out of 2 doesn't cut it.
Did Dana actually acknowledge that Askren's fighting style is the reason he didn't sign him?
From what I remember Dana argued that Askren's split decision win over Hieron showed he was not good enough to be in the UFC.
I'm in for Honda vs carano on fox!
Askren is not fun to watch, and is exspensive. Gina is pretty, has a fanbase, and is saleable... Any other explanation as to why one will be in the UFC, and one wont is bullshit. It has nothing to do with being legit or not.
At this point, I really dont give a shit to be honest. The UFC is a fight promotion, its not the NFL,NBA, MLB et al. The rankings are for the most part bullshit, fighters are marketed on charisma and mass appeal, not on merrit or fighting ability. The whole match making process is arbitrary at best, and so is the decision to sign or not sign someone to a contract.
The fight game has always been like this though, its nothing new. You cant put combat sports in the same box as stick and ball games, it doesnt work. And you cant compare the way they run their leagues/organizations. It doesnt make the UFC any less legitimate, just different than other sports orgs.
The problem is with Dana always running his trap about someone not being legit, or not UFC ready etc. What he should say is it doesnt make good business sense, because we cant make money off of a particular fighter, Ben Askren being an example of this. Instead he will lambaste a guy like Ben in the media, all the while force feeding us hyperbole about Ginas fighting ability.
A little more honesty from the head Egg in charge, would benefit everybody.
GayGuardMooseSaucy -No it's not, these guys are getting $500/$500 on most other shows. If they were worth far more then 8/8 other companies would pay them more. Truth is no one knows who the fuck they are and bet few people are tuning in to watch the guys making 8/8. Not to mention these same guys were making 3/3 a few ears ago in the UFC and odds are will be making 10/10 as UFC minimum in 12-18 months.FCM - Askren is not a crowd pleaser and wont fight for 8k.Nobody should be fighting in
the UFC for 8/8, that's fucking bullshit.
AllAmericanBoxing - I'm in for Honda vs carano on fox!One of the biggest PPVs of the year, won't be on Fox. My guess is in the fall some time or if Gina needs more time to prepare then Ronda will fight someone else in the fall and fight Gina on Super Bowl wknd in Vegas.
If it ain't Dutch, it ain't much -Will this actually sell though? would you buy this fight? Ronda armbars her in 1 minute or less... I really think it's better on Fox to try to get casuals back into it with a good undercard. I know I wouldn't buy a carano Ronda ppv unless the undercard was legit stacked.AllAmericanBoxing - I'm in for Honda vs carano on fox!One of the biggest PPVs of the year, won't be on Fox. My guess is in the fall some time or if Gina needs more time to prepare then Ronda will fight someone else in the fall and fight Gina on Super Bowl wknd in Vegas.
Saying shit like that is Dana's job. We don't have to take it seriously.