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“I could have really tapped into that at a much higher level.”
Regardless of your opinion about Ben Askren, the man did have a respectable pro MMA career. But as he looks back on his own accomplishments, “Funky” revealed having a single regret, something he could’ve done more.
The 36-year-old retired marquee fighter spoke about it during a recent Q&A session on Twitter.
I get asked often if there is anything I would have done differently with my MMA career. Here ya go. pic.twitter.com/TJEqd7XPgS
— Funky (@Benaskren) August 10, 2020
“The one thing I think I would have changed if I could go back, I didn’t ever think I was going to fight until 2019,” Askren began (transcript by MMA Fighting). “I never thought that would be the case. I thought I’d be retired way before. I never really had a great jiu-jitsu coach until really the end of my career when I found Marc Laimon. I really enjoyed him.
“But before that, there was really a mix of different jiu-jitsu coaches at [Roufusport] and I think that my potential to choke people out was untapped.”
Askren believed he had enough tools to go against opponents thrown his way, so he instead focused on his striking to set up takedowns. As he enters the ninth month of his second retirement, he feels he could’ve done better if he worked with some of the best jiu-jitsu minds today.
“I was the best pinner in the modern era of college wrestling,” he said. “And I think if I would have went to work with say the Danaher Death Squad or Marcelo Garcia, I could have really tapped into that at a much higher level.
“But at the same time, I really liked being coached by Duke [Roufus], that was going well and I always thought, ‘hey I’m good enough on the ground, I need to work on the striking end of the takedowns.’ I always thought hey I’m going to be done in a couple of years and then it just ended up so happening that I fought until effing 2019.
“If I would have put some more time into jiu-jitsu, I think I could have gotten better choking people,” Askren continued. “Hey that’s how it goes sometimes. That’s what I would have done a little bit differently had I been able to go back and do it again.”
Askren went 1-3 with the UFC after signing in late 2018. His most recent fight took place in October 2019 against Demian Maia. He lost via third-round submission and announced his retirement less than a month later.