Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren has made it clear that he wants his next fight to be inside the Octagon and Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney has given him his blessing.

With that in mind, it makes sense that “Funky” has UFC 170-pound titleholder Georges St-Pierre in his crosshairs.

In a one-on-one interview with Sherdog, the former Olympic-level wrestler questioned GSP’s grappling credentials, wondering if he will get through Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 in November.

“The notion that he's the best wrestler is insane to me. He's got a great double leg and good timing, but just watching him, you see a lot of areas he's just not a natural wrestler,” Askren said.

“… If Johny Hendricks is training his wrestling, which that's a mistake that a lot of wrestlers make is they get out of it and they think they got to get better at striking and jiu jitsu and they totally forget about their wrestling.

“… If Johny Hendricks is staying on point and getting some wrestling in, which hopefully he's smart enough to do, he'll definitely outwrestle Georges St. Pierre.”

A four-time All-American wrestler at the University of Missouri, Askren is a perfect 12-0 as professional mixed martial artist.

Criticized for his wrestle-heavy style, Askren’s hands are coming along, scoring back-to-back TKO’s after winning six decisions in a row between May 2010 and April 2012.

Despite no formal wrestling training before getting into MMA, GSP has outgrappled respected takedown artists in Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck and Matt Hughes, to name a few.

Would Askren be able to shock the world and control St-Pierre on the mat or would he be in for a rude awakening if he ever earned a title bout with the French-Canadian superstar?