Scott Askham Would Welcome An Interim Title Fight With Michal Materla

It’s been a crazy year for Scott Askham, but it’s ending on a high following the announcement this past weekend that he’d signed for Polish MMA promotion, KSW.

Askham, who made his Poland earlier this week to do some promotional work, spoke exclusively to MMANytt.com yesterday and explained why he decided to sign for KSW.

“My the talks when through my management and we had a lot of offers on the table following the Luke Barnatt performance,” Askham said. “KSW came up with the best offer though, so here we are. I’m just out here in Poland now at a KSW gym waiting to do some interviews and stuff so I’m just chilled out here and then I’m back home tomorrow.

“At this point of my career I’ve got to take the best offer on the table and we were very happy with how the promotion was ran. All our dealings with them have been great and it’s all run smooth. So yeah, they seem like a great company to work for and I’m very happy to have signed for them. I probably knew about four or five weeks ago because I put a teaser out on social media. Everyone was asking when we were going to have some news, but obviously there was stuff to sort out and we got it signed on the dotted line yesterday.”

Who Askham makes his debut against is currently up in the air. KSW features plenty of big names at 185-pounds and Askham seems happy enough to fight any of them.

“I haven’t got any names yet, but obviously Materla keeps popping up,” Askham said. “I’m hearing that he’s fighting for an interim title or something, but I don’t know why it’s an interim title. I don’t know what’s happening with Khalidov, it was just some Polish friends that told me about the article.

“If Materla is looking for an interim title I’ll more than happily take that fight. 100-percent I’ll step in. I’m coming straight for that title so if it’s Materla that they give me so be it.”

While an interim title may be the first fight on the radar, Askham has ambitions of holding the unified KSW title and if possible fighting Khalidov.

“I’ll be disappointed if I don’t get towards that title and there’s a title fight in the contract,” Askham said. “I’ve got to do my part and get them wins. When I get them wins I’ll be heading towards that title so that’s what I’m aiming for.”

While getting cut from the UFC was never in the plan, Askham has rebounded from the disappoint as well as anyone and he’s pleased with how things have worked out.

“Overall it’s been a good year for me,” Askham said. “My daughter was born in May as well. Obviously, I didn’t intend to lose the fight in March, but there’s a lot of positives to take away from the year. I’ve been to Florida twice to train at American Top Team and I think I’ve improved a lot as a fighter. I lost and cut from the UFC, but I got straight into a main event slot on ACB and then I signed for KSW at the end of the year. I would’ve like to have got one more in, but I’m now just looking forward to the year ahead.”

Nothing is confirmed yet, but Askham is expecting to make his KSW debut in the opening quarter of next year. When the deal gets signed, Askham will head Stateside for training while the ‘Askham Army’ back home prepare to travel to Poland.

“I’m heading back to American Top Team in early January so around March time or later February, around that time,” Askham said. “That’s perfect for me, but I haven’t been given a date so I’ll be waiting. I’ve sort of been given a date, but nothing is 100-percent. I can’t wait to shout out when it is and get all the lads booked and get all the lads travelling to Poland.”