One of the highlights of last night’s Bellator tournament was watching unconventional wrestler Ben Askren work his game. Askren faced Illinois wrestler Ryan Thomas in an exciting fight in which he scored several takedowns, defended a couple of triangle choke attempts and scored a tight guillotine-turned-D’arce choke of his own. Although Thomas didn’t tap, the ref called the fight when he did not respond. ”He looked like was sunk in and I asked him for a sign,” the ref said.

Askren said he was surprised at first when the fight was stopped. “It wasn’t a good choke by any means,” he said. “It wasn’t technical. I was trying to lock up a D’arce but didn’t quite get there; it didn’t feel tight so I just decided to go with it and squeeze it as much as I can and then the fight got stopped.”

“I would’ve preferred it if the ref let him tap because he was going to eventually,” Askren said. After watching the highlights, he points out that his opponent wasn’t going anywhere, that his arm was underneath the Thomas’s chin and that Thomas’ neck looked like it was about to snap off. Although Thomas claimed that you need to have pressure on both sides of the neck to secure a choke, Askren would beg to differ.

It looks like Thomas will be getting another chance at Bellator 15, where he will face Arizona Combat Sports up-and-comer Jacob McClintock. McClintock was originally scheduled to face British fighter Jim Wallhead, but flight issues (presumably the volcano) got in the way. Askren will, of course, continue to fight in the tournament for the Bellator welterweight belt though the next match-up hasn’t been determined.

The 2008 Olympic wrestler is extremely honest about both his strengths and weaknesses. Known for his funky wrestling style, Askren says he learned by failing. “I’m trying to learn Jiu Jitsu the way I learned wrestling. I learned mostly by making mistakes and seeing what I could get away with.”

Well known for an unconventional wrestling style, Askren said, ”I do a lot of odd stuff.” This includes throwing D’arce chokes, anaconda chokes and arm triangles from weird positions where people don’t see them coming or think he can’t choke from. “I have a good feel for where my arms should be in order to make an opponent lose blood flow or tap,” he explained. The choking variations come from Askren’s many years of wrestling–where choking is illegal but can be used to a certain extent.

Although Askren is the first to admit that he’s not explosive, he’s got a very aggressive style and sees submission attempts by his opponents as simply leading to a guard pass for him. “I would be surprised if I get submitted with a triangle or an armbar, ever,” he said. Turning Askren’s elite-level wrestling to a complete MMA game is certainly challenging. Askren, however, seems up to it.

In addition to fighting for Bellator, he will be competing in the June 11 World Team Trials. He trains at the Lion’s Den in Scottsdale, Arizona and with BJJ coach Kiko France at American Top Team in Missouri.