Rich Franklin explains why Demetrious Johnson-Ben Askren trade is still win-win

The MMA world was taken by surprise last year when former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson was “traded” to ONE Championship for former ONE welterweight titleholder Ben Askren.

And just over a year later, many have questioned the UFC for giving up one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time for Askren, who’s had a rough start to his UFC tenure.

Since joining the UFC, Askren (19-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) picked up a controversial submission win over Robbie Lawler in March, and then was brutally knocked out by Jorge Masvidal in record time at UFC 239, suffering his first career loss as a pro. He then faced Demian Maia in a battle between two of the sport’s best grapplers. Askren lost that fight via fourth round submission last month, suffering his second straight loss.

Johnson (30-3), on the other hand, picked up three wins since departing from the UFC, en route to winning the ONE Championship flyweight grand prix.

But former UFC middleweight champion and current ONE vice president Rich Franklin says despite how things have transpired for both fighters, he still views the trade as a win-win situation.

“It was a pretty straight forward trade from the business side,” Franklin told MMA Junkie. “Just kind of flip-flopped from one organization to the next, and so nothing tricky about it. And I’ll say this: Askren goes to the UFC, he’s competing against some of the top level guys obviously with Masvidal and what not, and then DJ comes over to ONE Championship and is competing against some of the top guys. People will make a comment like that based on athlete’s performance, but the reality, what you have to ask yourself: What kind of return on investment did the organization get on the trade?”

For Johnson, who was never a big UFC pay-per-view draw, he wasn’t given his due for his record number of title defenses and running through the flyweight division. Askren, who came out of retirement, never got a chance to show his true personality, which shined since he joined the UFC, making him one of its biggest stars.

That’s why Franklin sees the trade as beneficial for both parties, regardless of whether they’re winning or losing fights.

“DJ, for us, who maybe didn’t get the respect that he deserved in another organization, is going to do really well over here in ONE Championship,” Franklin said. “There are many fans on this side of the planet that gravitate towards the smaller athletes, and he puts on exciting matches. There’s no doubt about that, so for us, regardless if he’s winning or losing, that’s not as important as he’s a big draw. And likewise for Ben Askren moving to the UFC. Regardless of whether he’s winning or losing, he’s a big draw because people are going to be curious.”

“Even though he lost his last match to Demian Maia, when they find him for another match, people are still going to be interested in seeing how he performs,” Franklin added. “To see if, ‘Oh, maybe he had a rough start out of the gates or whatever,’ so they’re still getting a return on investment in that respect, and I think it was probably smart for both organizations because the UFC wasn’t getting a return on investment in Demetrious.”