Robbie Lawler was nothing but class after his controversial loss to Ben Askren at UFC 235 and now his manager has followed his lead with a response issued to the 2008 Olympian while still hoping that an immediate rematch gets booked.

This past weekend in Las Vegas, Lawler fell to Askren via a first round bulldog choke submission that stopped the contest after the former welterweight champion had dominated the early portion of the fight.

After Lawler dropped bombs on Askren through the first couple of minutes of the round, the former Bellator champion managed to stage a comeback before snatching the rarely seen bulldog choke against the fence.

A few seconds after the submission was applied, referee Herb Dean stopped the fight after he saw Lawler’s arm drop for a moment. Dean believed that Lawler had passed out from the submission but a split second before the fight was called off, he had given the referee a thumbs up to indicate he was OK to continue.

Unfortunately the fight had already ended and there was no way to restart the action.

Earlier this week, Askren then offered his own comments on the fight while saying that he didn’t believe there was any controversy not to mention he doesn’t believe Lawler had any way to break free from the submission.

“No. 1, I do think he passed out for a little bit. No. 2, there was just no escape,” Askren said on the Rudis podcast. “There was 1:40 left, he was not getting out of that hold in no way, shape or form. It was sunk deep, it was sunk tight and there was just literally nowhere for him to go.”

Now Lawler’s manager David Martin has issued a response to that statement while hoping that UFC president Dana White follows through with his desire to book an immediate rematch after he called the end of the fight a ‘bad stoppage’.

“We acknowledge that Ben is a tremendous fighter; coming back from the beating Robbie gave him demonstrates his grit and shows why he has a strong history of winning. That is undeniable,” Martin wrote. “However, Ben’s comments speak directly to the fact that there was a lot of time left in the round leading to a lot of unknowns. Things could have dramatically changed in the 1:40 remaining in the round, just as they did a minute into the fight.

“It is unfortunate that Robbie didn’t get his chance to get out of a tough position like Ben was able to do earlier in the round. No one knows, which is why an immediate rematch is warranted. As for an appeal to the commission, nothing has been ruled out. But if this were to occur it would be handled professionally behind closed doors like we do all of our business. Through adversity, Robbie remains a true professional and role model for the sport-someone I certainly want my three boys to look up to.”

While Askren has scoffed at the idea of rematch, instead turning his attention to the upcoming fight between Darren Till and Jorge Masvidal, there still remains a possibility that he will end up meeting Lawler again instead.

White was adamant about booking the immediate rematch after UFC 235 ended and now Lawler, via his manager, has made it clear that’s exactly what they want as well.