After a dominant unanimous decision victory over Dan Hornbuckle on Thursday night at Bellator XXII, Ben Askren was crowned the 2010 welterweight tournament winner in front of a partisan crowd at the Kansas City Power and Light District in Kansas City, Missouri.

A two-time collegiate national champion at the University of Missouri, Askren overwhelmed Hornbuckle with multiple takedowns and brutal ground-and-pound throughout the fifteen-minute affair. Askren’s superb ground skills stifled his opponents attack from the get-go, as a visibly frustrated Hornbuckle was unable to mount the kind of assault that has made him one of the best in the sport at 170-pounds. His offense was limited to a few meager submission attempts while trying to fend-off Askren’s smothering wrestling.

Highlighted in the victory was Askren’s ever-evolving skill-set. Although he has only six professional MMA bouts in his young career, Askren continues to astound every time he enters the cage. The undefeated Olympian once again used his superior ground-control to impress the home crowd and win over the judges, who all three scored the bout 30-27.  

“I pretty much told all of you guys what I was going to do,” Askren said. “A few of you were smart enough to listen to me. A bunch of you doubted me. You’ll learn not to do that soon enough.”

With the win, Askren gets a crack at current champion Lyman Good for the Bellator welterweight title later this year. A talented New Jersey based fighter, Good is undefeated at 10-0, but has not competed since beating Omar de la Cruz to win the Bellator title over a year ago. In his post-fight interview, Askren directed his brash talk towards the champion.

“Keep my belt warm,” Askren said. “Shine it once a week and enjoy it while you’ve got it, because it’s mine baby.”

In other action at Bellator XXII:
Cole Konrad defeated John Orr by unanimous decision
Lisa Ward defeated Stephanie Frausto by submission (rear-naked choke)- 2:01 R1
Jose Vega defeated Jarrod Card by KO (punch)- 0:39 R1
Raphael Davis defeated Demetrius Richards by submission (strikes)- 2:51 R1
Rudy Bears defeated Brian Green by submission (rear-naked choke)- 3:29 R1
Jared Downing defeated Chad Vandenberg by submission (rear-naked choke)- 1:35 R3
Tyler Stinson defeated Leonardo Pecanha by submission (rear-naked choke)- 1:42 R1

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