Getting rid of an ATG not far off his prime for a guy who was essentially retired. Granted, people wanted to see Askren vs the best UFC welters for a long time but that ship had clearly sailed some time ago.
DJ had no interest in big fights and wanted to go. If anything it set a good precedent for the future(We may see something like this again down the line) Askren may have not panned out like he was expected to but ultimately it wasn't a bad trade especially considering the dynamics at play at the time.
Turning down the Dillashaw fight was inexcusable and he was rightly excoriated over it. As far as him wanting out of the company, he seemed more ambivalent than anything. Management just seemed to have zero interest in giving him or his division a push. Still getting rid of a top fighter for a guy that wasn't even training anymore was very questionable at the very least even then.
It’s still been lucrative move for the UFC and all three fights with Askren have been sensational lol.
Masvidal vs. Diaz is probably the biggest fight of the year, or at least one of the biggest, and a huge part of that is Masvidal's win over Askren. Sure, a big part of Masvidal's huge upsurge in popularity had to do with his spectacular wins over Darren Till and Cowboy, but let's face it, beating Askren created the perfect storm to ignite Masvidal into a mega-star. The UFC will probably earn more Saturday as a direct result of Askren getting ktfoed than they would from another half dozen Mighty Mouse fights.
