Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren isn't one to shy away from making his opinion heard. There's a distinct possibility that Askren, who has no fights left on his Bellator contract, will end up in the UFC, where he is expected to be thrown right into the mix with the UFC's other mid-tier and top-tier welterweights. Having watched Countdown to UFC 164, which premiered last night, Askren made a comment regarding the UFC not including Josh Barnett's history of PED use dating back to his title win over Randy Couture:

Love how the Countdown show glanced over the fact Barnett tested positive for 3 banned substances after Couture fight. @Vada_Testing — Ben Askren (@Benaskren) August 28, 2013

Barnett of course had the UFC heavyweight belt stripped after he tested positive for 3 banned substances, thus the 11 year absence from the organization. "The Warmaster" caught wind of this and replied with this:

@Benaskren Did I piss in your cherrios or something or do you just like the view from your high chair? Have fun in obscurity. — Josh Barnett (@JoshLBarnett) August 28, 2013

@RyannVonDoom @Benaskren @Vada_Testing I won't even acknowledge VADA. They're entirely agenda driven and that agenda is NOT sport. — Josh Barnett (@JoshLBarnett) August 28, 2013

To which Askren retorted:

@JoshLBarnett Lol I know it doesn't matter to you, but I can look at myself in the mirror and be ok with choices. In 20 years you will — Ben Askren (@Benaskren) August 28, 2013

@JoshLBarnett have a very hard time doing the same. — Ben Askren (@Benaskren) August 28, 2013

Barnett ended (for now) their conversation by calling Askren 'a prick':

@Benaskren Lastly, go fuck yourself you high & mighty prick. If you want to be famous just come run your mouth next time you see me. — Josh Barnett (@JoshLBarnett) August 28, 2013

Shayna Baszler, who Barnett trains, also interjected herself into the conversation with a defense of her mentor, refuting another person's tweet that Barnett "killed" Affliction after his failed drug test before his scheduled fight against Fedor Emelianenko. She also told Askren to "do some research" regarding Barnett's failed drug tests post-Couture bout, but for the sake of brevity we'll leave out the several additional tweets between her and Askren. You can follow the entire stream of thoughts by clicking on this link.

That's certainly a hell of a lot to digest. Do you think Askren was right to not only call out Josh Barnett's first failed drug test, but to call out the UFC -- a potential future employer -- for their erasure of that fact on their Countdown program?

SBN coverage of UFC 164: Henderson vs. Pettis