Ben Askren has one regret coming out of UFC 235, and it does not involve his controversial victory over Robbie Lawler. In the co-main event of the evening, Askren’s close friend Tyron Woodley lost his welterweight championship to Kamaru Usman in one-sided fashion, and Ben Askren is disappointed that he was unable to corner Woodley during the fight:

“I was really disappointed with the UFC staff,” Askren told media members (transcript via MMA Fighting). “I thought I had it cleared on Tuesday that as soon as I got done with my fight, that I would go out to the cage [to corner Woodley]. They said no problem. And then I tried going out there and they stopped me.

“They wouldn’t even let me go in the arena, and I was really disappointed by that. I mean, if you don’t want to let me in the corner, fine, but find an effing seat for me somewhere a couple rows back where I can watch one of my best friends perform.

“I was really disappointed by that fact because I thought the issue was handled ahead of time and I didn’t foresee that becoming an issue, so I rushed back, I skipped stitches so I could go out there with them, and then they stopped me. And I really didn’t like that.”

Ben Askren is not stating his cornering of Woodley would have prevented his friend from getting dominated from bell to bell, but he’s also not saying that it wouldn’t have:

“You never know,” Askren said when asked if cornering Woodley could have changed the outcome. “I coach a lot of kids, right? My brother and I own three wrestling academies and you just never know — sometimes it’s not always me, but what someone’s going to say that’s going to make something click.”