Ben Askren Questions Cejudo’s RAF Training

Ben Askren believes Henry Cejudo’s loss to Merab Dvalishvili at RAF Georgia came down less to wrestling credentials than to readiness for a demanding match. Cejudo opened a major advantage, taking an 8-0 lead, but Dvalishvili rallied to win the decision 11-8. Askren’s reaction was pointed: in his view, an athlete who agrees to wrestle must prepare for more than an expected quick finish. He discussed Cejudo’s late decline while appearing on The MightyCast with Demetrious Johnson, using his own recent RAF appearance as a contrast. Askren had also dealt with fatigue in competition, but his circumstances followed a double-lung transplant and a lengthy period in which he could not push himself hard.

The criticism was not presented as a dismissal of Cejudo’s ability. Askren called him as elite as it gets and stressed how close he came to ending the bout. At 8-0, Cejudo needed only two more points for the match to be over. Askren’s theory was that Cejudo expected to get on top, turn Dvalishvili enough times and finish before a longer contest became a factor. Instead, the momentum shifted and Dvalishvili took the 11-8 result. That sequence is central to Askren’s argument: a strong opening and a near finish did not remove the need to be ready for sustained wrestling. His comments were based on a guess rather than a conversation with Cejudo, as Askren said he had not spoken to him.

Askren compares two very different fatigue issues

Askren’s own recent experience gave his comments additional context. He competed at RAF 11 on July 18, his first competition after undergoing a double-lung transplant following a traumatic near-death experience. Former UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad defeated Askren by decision, and Askren later acknowledged that fatigue had been a huge part of his performance. He also said he has no plans to wrestle again. When he addressed Cejudo’s match, however, Askren drew a clear distinction between his own recovery and what he saw from Cejudo. “I had a lung transplant so I think I’ve got an excuse for getting really tired, but my man got really tired,” Askren said. He added that Cejudo was having trouble standing on his feet during the third period. Askren’s message was direct: “You’re going to agree to wrestle, you’ve got to get in there and train a little bit.” Askren later clarified that he had misspoken when discussing his own condition. His lungs did not hurt, he said; the issue was his legs, which “fall off a cliff” at a certain point. His best guess was heart deconditioning. Askren explained that he had been unable to make himself work hard for somewhere between six and eight months, and he described the recovery as constantly improving but slow. That explanation is why he separated his cardio problems from his assessment of Cejudo. Askren did not say Cejudo lacked the skill to win. He argued that even a decorated wrestler needs the specific conditioning required for an RAF match that does not end immediately.

The available details show why Askren thought Cejudo may have planned around a fast conclusion. In freestyle, Askren said, a wrestler who understands that style can repeatedly turn an opponent who does not. He believed Cejudo had turned Dvalishvili perhaps three times and needed just one more turn to close the contest. Askren’s version of Cejudo’s thinking was explicitly a guess: Cejudo may have felt that his Olympic background meant he could get to top position once, collect the needed turns and put the match away. In that sense, Askren recognized that the strategy nearly worked. The loss did not erase Cejudo’s early success; it highlighted the risk of depending on an early finish that never arrives. Key points from Askren’s reading of the bout: • Cejudo had an 8-0 advantage and was two points away from ending the match. • Askren said Cejudo may have expected one top position to create the final sequence of turns. • Dvalishvili recovered to win the decision 11-8 after Cejudo’s late difficulties. The scoreline makes the reversal easy to place in context. Cejudo was ahead by eight points before Dvalishvili’s comeback, yet the final margin favored Dvalishvili by three. Askren’s criticism therefore focused on preparation for the full duration of the contest, not on claiming that Cejudo could not have won it. Cejudo’s position as an Olympic gold medalist and former two-division UFC champion was part of why Askren viewed the near finish as evidence of his ability, while also questioning whether he had put in enough work for the match’s physical demands.

Why Askren thought the match nearly ended early

Askren said he could see a plausible route by which Cejudo expected to finish Dvalishvili quickly. His explanation centered on the advantage a knowledgeable freestyle wrestler can have when an opponent does not understand freestyle. In Askren’s telling, Cejudo had already produced perhaps three turns. One additional turn would have supplied the points needed to end the match, which is why Askren said Cejudo “did, in fact, almost put him away.” The eventual result did not change that narrow point: Cejudo was close to completing the sequence Askren imagined. At the same time, Askren believed the third-period fatigue showed that Cejudo had not prepared adequately for the possibility of resistance and a longer effort. His remarks were blunt, but they were framed as an opinion about what may have happened rather than a confirmed account of Cejudo’s training. Askren said Cejudo needed a good explanation for getting so tired, then returned to the broader standard he applies to accepting a wrestling match: getting in sessions and training for it. The two recent RAF losses came under very different circumstances. Askren lost to Muhammad while making his first competitive appearance since the transplant and while still working through cardio recovery. Cejudo lost after building the 8-0 lead against Dvalishvili at RAF Georgia. Dvalishvili had previously defeated Cejudo by decision at UFC 298 in 2024, making the RAF result his second combat sports win over Cejudo. Their scheduled third meeting is set for RAF 12 on Aug. 22. Match context summarized: Event | Result and context RAF Georgia | Cejudo led Dvalishvili 8-0, but Dvalishvili won the decision 11-8. RAF 11, July 18 | Askren lost a decision to Belal Muhammad in his first competition since his double-lung transplant. RAF 12, Aug. 22 | Dvalishvili and Cejudo are set to meet for a third time.

• Cejudo held an 8-0 lead and needed two more points to end the match, according to Askren.
• Askren believed Cejudo may have expected to finish through turns from top position.
• Dvalishvili recovered and won the RAF Georgia decision 11-8.

Askren’s assessment of Cejudo was rooted in the contrast between a nearly completed early finish and a match that ultimately required more endurance. He credited Cejudo’s elite level and acknowledged how close he was to ending the contest, but argued that the collapse from an 8-0 lead exposed a lack of preparation for a longer RAF bout. Askren also explained that his own fatigue after RAF 11 was tied, in his view, to heart deconditioning rather than pain in his transplanted lungs. With Dvalishvili and Cejudo scheduled to wrestle again at RAF 12 on Aug. 22, the rematch is the next listed meeting after Dvalishvili’s 11-8 comeback victory.

Sources: MMA Fighting; BJPenn