Following an unsuccessful UFC tenure and being notified that he needs a hip replacement, Ben Askren has announced his retirement at the age of 35.
Ben Askren came into the UFC with boatloads of hype. After being traded from ONE Championship for former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, the former Bellator, and ONE welterweight champion came into the UFC with an unblemished 18-0 record with wins over top tier Bellator talents such as current champion Douglas Lima. However, following two straight losses to Jorge Masvidal to Demian Maia, he has announced his retirement.
Askren appeared on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show Monday and officially announced his retirement for the second time. Askren went on to say that he was notified prior to the Maia fight that he needs a hip replacement, in response to constant hip issues. However, after the Maia loss, he was officially notified by doctors that he could no longer compete.
Askren infamously made his UFC debut in March of 2019, in one of the top bouts on a stacked UFC 235 card. Askren earned a controversial win over former champion Robbie Lawler after Herb Dean stopped the fight, thinking Lawler was unconscious while Askren had him in a bulldog choke. Later, replays shed some doubt on whether Lawler was in fact out. However, regardless of the controversial result, Askren got the win and it shot him into the UFC’s top five at welterweight.
Askren was then matched up with Jorge Masvidal in a grudge match at UFC 239 in July, where he would be knocked out in five seconds following a flying knee by Masvidal. Following this, he was book into his first UFC main event, a grappler’s delight against Demian Maia, where he would get put to sleep for the second time in his UFC career, following a rear-naked choke by Maia in the fourth round.
Askren retires with a 19-2 (1NC) record, along with two championship titles from Bellator and ONE Championship. He holds notable wins over former champions Douglas Lima, Andrey Koreshkov, Shinya Aoki, and Robbie Lawler.
