Brittney Griner finally got her release after spending almost 9 months in Russian detention. However, her release comes with a huge price for the US government, as they traded an arms dealer in exchange for her release. Although some celebrated the news, others slammed American President Joe Biden for setting free a dangerous criminal for Brittney’s release. Former UFC fighter Ben Askren also took a pop at the administration.
Ben Askren does not shy away from letting the fans know of his political beliefs. Hence, it was not a surprise that he also weighed in on the matter. As per reports, Brittney Griner was arrested during her arrival in Russia for having possession of hashish oil, which is a marijuana concentrate and contains THC. Viktor Bout, on the other hand, was in US detention for arms dealing charges.
So the American government certainly had to make a big compromise for Griner’s release. Hence, Ben Askren mocked the whole situation with his trademark sarcasm and added that it was not the best of the compromises for the government. Regardless of the situation, the WNBA player finally gets to come home after spending time in Russian detention since February.
We traded an arms dealer for a pot head?? Seems like a bad deal
— Funky (@Benaskren) December 9, 2022
Ben Askren is a former Bellator and ONE Championship champion. He also had a brief stint in the UFC, which is most remembered for his flying knee KO loss against Jorge Masvidal. The former Olympian also lost to Jake Paul in a boxing match where he was KO’ed in the first round. Askren holds an MMA record of 19-2-1 and a UFC record of 1 win and 2 losses.
Who is Brittney Griner?
Brittney Griner is a female basketball player who has set the WNBA on fire in the last few years. She graduated from Baylor and was a first-draft pick in 2013. She was selected by Phoenix Mercury. The 32-year-old has been playing for the team since 2013 and won the WNBA season in 2014. However, her individual stats are extremely good.
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Aside from winning the league in 2014, she made the WNBA All-Star team on 8 separate occasions. She won the WNBA Defensive Player of the year honor in 2014 and 2015. However, not just WNBA, Brittney Griner also played for the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) team Zhejiang Golden Bulls and the Russian Premier League (RPL) team UMMC Ekaterinburg.
Giner has been playing for UMMC since 2014 during the WNBA off-seasons. Hence, she was in Russia to join the team on February 17th. However, when she was found with hashish oil, the authorities detained her straight away. She had a trial in Russia and was sentenced to be jailed for 9 years. After months of negotiations, the Joe Biden-led government finally secured her freedom and traded a highly-feared criminal, Viktor Bout.
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