The last fight on Ben Askren ‘s Bellator MMA deal is in the books, and the promotion’s welterweight champion delivered yet again with perhaps his most dominant performance to date. Now CEO Bjorn Rebney finds himself in a position he’s been in before – hoping to keep one of his champions rather than lose him to the competition. Rebney on Wednesday confirmed to MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio) that Askren’s win over Andrey Koreshkov at this past week’s Bellator 97 card was the last fight on his current deal. Rebney also said he’s unsure of what steps the promotion will take in negotiations with Askren (12-0 MMA, 9-0 BMMA), who has a standard exclusive negotiating period with Bellator built into his deal before he can seek offers from other promotions. In the past, as was the case with former lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez , Rebney waived the exclusive period and let Alvarez test the market early. He got an offer from the UFC, Bellator attempted to match it and now the entire case is tied up in the legal system with Alvarez’s side saying Bellator’s counter-offer was not a true match
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Video: With Askren’s Bellator deal up, Rebney hopes negotiation comes naturally – MMA Junkie