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Ben Askren has spoken of the frustration at never getting to test himself against the UFC’s best while in his prime. The former Olympian and multiple promotion world champion had planned to sign with the UFC in 2013. He went through a long and co…
Ben Askren has spoken of the frustration at never getting to test himself against the UFC’s best while in his prime. The former Olympian and multiple promotion world champion had planned to sign with the UFC in 2013. He went through a long and confusing process of negotiation before ultimately being given the cold shoulder…
Continue Reading Ben Askren Describes ‘Missing Out’ On His Prime Years at MMA News.
Former UFC welterweight contender, Ben Askren has advocated against pursuing a professional mixed martial arts career as a young, up-and-coming fighter, highlighting the luck involved in order to land within a big promotion, as well as the expenses of just competing and preparing to compete. Askren, a former Bellator MMA and ONE Championship welterweight champion […]
Former UFC welterweight contender, Ben Askren has advocated against pursuing a professional mixed martial arts career as a young, up-and-coming fighter, highlighting the luck involved in order to land within a big promotion, as well as the expenses of just competing and preparing to compete.
Askren, a former Bellator MMA and ONE Championship welterweight champion to boot, called time on his professional mixed martial arts career back in November 2019, after undergoing surgery to address a long-standing hip injury.
Competing on three occasions under the banner of the UFC following high-profile swap from ONE Championship which saw former UFC flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson move in the opposite direction, Askren debuted in the Octagon in 2019.
Landing a controversial bulldog choke win over former welterweight titleholder, Robbie Lawler in his landing, Askren then found himself on the receiving end of the fastest knockout loss in UFC history, after Jorge Masvidal landed a stunning 5-second flying knee KO.
Headlining UFC Fight Night Kallang back in October of that year, Ben Askren, now 38, suffered a technical submission loss to Demian Maia courtesy of a third round rear-naked choke.
Returning to combat sports for a professional boxing match against Jake Paul last year, Askren suffered a first round knockout defeat.
Outlining the financial barriers and risk factors in pursuing a career in professional mixed martial arts, Askren advised young fighters from putting all their eggs in the proverbial sport basket.
“I usually advocate against MMA, it is a sh*tty career,” Ben Askren told MMA Junkie during a recent interview. “You know, I say, many thousands of people across America want to do MMA. Man, you make it to the UFC – this is what I talk them through when they’re not ‘that’ skilled. Make it to the UFC – which, that’s hard, right? You’re gonna have to do a bunch of amateur fights, and a bunch of low-level pro fights, someone’s gonna have to see you, you’re gonna have to not get injured. All these good things are gonna have to happen for you.”
“You make it the UFC, and you’re on a baseline contract, and you win all three fights your first year, you probably make like $80,000,” Ben Askren explained. “Well, okay, that’s alright. But then, hold on, you didn’t pay your management, you didn’t pay your trainer, you didn’t pay your taxes. Sh*t, you’re sitting on $30,000 to $40,000, you’re living at the poverty level – and that’s if you won all three fights. And if everything goes really well for you – MMA is not a great career.”
Ben Askren is not convinced by Jake Paul’s fighter pay talk. Some of the biggest disagreements in mixed martial arts over recent years have come when discussing fighter pay. The conversation was brought to light when former MMA fighters began to …
Ben Askren is not convinced by Jake Paul’s fighter pay talk. Some of the biggest disagreements in mixed martial arts over recent years have come when discussing fighter pay. The conversation was brought to light when former MMA fighters began to make the transition over to boxing and in particular when they began fighting Jake…
Continue Reading Askren Calls Jake Paul Disingenuous On Fighter Pay Talk at MMA News.
Former ONE and Bellator world champion Ben Askren has some ideas for the future of Demetrious Johnson. ‘Mighty Mouse’ was traded from the UFC to ONE Championship in 2018 in exchange for the collegiate wrestling great ‘Funky’ Askren. After winning twelve UFC title fights, Johnson earned a loss to Olympian Henry Cejudo, then, the UFC […]
Former ONE and Bellator world champion Ben Askren has some ideas for the future of Demetrious Johnson. ‘Mighty Mouse’ was traded from the UFC to ONE Championship in 2018 in exchange for the collegiate wrestling great ‘Funky’ Askren. After winning twelve UFC title fights, Johnson earned a loss to Olympian Henry Cejudo, then, the UFC was happy to part ways the with the all-time great.
‘Funky’ Ben Askren believes that with the raised stock of ‘Mighty Mouse,’ the UFC may be interested in doing a trade again to get Johnson back. Recent reports indicate that Russian bantamweight Petr Yan may be currently unhappy with the organization and would like to leave the UFC.
Askren put it all together and said the UFC should look to get Demetrious Johnson back and send to ONE:
“Petr Yan. I don’t think he wants to be there anymore, they should find some good trade material for him. I think he wants to fight in ONE since he trains out of Thailand. I’m sure there’s somebody you can find in ONE, maybe they get Mighty Mouse back. That would be wild.” [Transcript courtesy of MMA News]
Petr Yan does train at Tiger Muay Thai in Bangkok, Thailand so competing in Singapore would be closer to home for the Russian fighter. Ben Askren discussed this idea in an exclusive interview with MMA News. See the full interview below:
‘Mighty Mouse’ Demestrious Johnson may not be receptive to a trade though. The US-born athlete has found tremendous success while competing in ONE Championship and is happy with the management. While competing in ONE, Johnson has earned the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Championship and the divisional title ONE Flyweight World Champion earlier this year. Additionally, he was able to compete in a special rules super fight against Muay Thai phenom Rodtang Jitmuangnon.
Being able to compete in mixed rules bouts and a Grand Prix was a selling point for ‘Mighty Mouse’ to join ONE. After winning the flyweight throne via knockout earlier this year, Demetrious Johnson discussed ONE in a post-fight interview. He said:
“It feels good. As I said, I’m a platinum guy, right? And when I signed with this organization, when he announced like the World Grand Prix, and once I saw that World Grand Prix platinum belt, I was like, I got to have that f***ing belt. I was like, I need that belt … I’ve always wanted to win a World Grand Prix. That was one of the things I grew up watching Cro Cop, Josh Barnett, you know, who was in PRIDE’s Openweight Grand Prix. It was something I really, really wanted.”
From the sounds of things, Demetrious Johnson is happy where he is. He continued:
“I’m just grateful to be in a position I’m in. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to perform on a beautiful platform like ONE Championship and a great partnership with Amazon Prime.”
Former UFC welterweight Ben Askren feels it’s not out of the question that the UFC would consider getting Demetrious Johnson back from ONE in a trade. Askren retired from MMA following a loss to Demian Maia in Oct. 2019. He unretired from combat …
Former UFC welterweight Ben Askren feels it’s not out of the question that the UFC would consider getting Demetrious Johnson back from ONE in a trade. Askren retired from MMA following a loss to Demian Maia in Oct. 2019. He unretired from combat sports for a boxing match against Jake Paul, losing via first-round knockout….
Continue Reading Ben Askren Names Possible UFC Trade For Mighty Mouse at MMA News.
Ben Askren shared his thoughts on the Anderson Silva vs Jake Paul boxing match scheduled for this weekend. ‘Funky’ has experience against ‘The Problem Child’ having been knocked out in their meeting in 2021. Anderson Silva is an all-time great in MMA. Brazil’s ‘The Spider’ was the long-reigning middleweight champion in the UFC. He has since retired from the cage and […]
Ben Askren shared his thoughts on the Anderson Silva vs Jake Paul boxing match scheduled for this weekend. ‘Funky’ has experience against ‘The Problem Child’ having been knocked out in their meeting in 2021.
Anderson Silva is an all-time great in MMA. Brazil’s ‘The Spider’ was the long-reigning middleweight champion in the UFC. He has since retired from the cage and entered the boxing ring. With wins over Julio César Chávez Jr. and Tito Ortiz, Silva will be entering his bout against Paul 2-0 in 2021.
Jake Paul is a perfect 5-0 in professional boxing with notable wins over Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren. ‘The Problem Child’ beat both of these men by way of knockout.
In an interview with talkSPORT, the former ONE and Bellator champion explained:
“I don’t really care that much. I don’t think I’m even going to buy the pay-per-view. I think it’s probably unlikely. I have no idea what to expect in this one, I guess we’ll see on Saturday.”
The collegiate wrestling great continued:
“I was really disappointed when Tyron lost. As far as it looks on me, it actually looks alright because Jake Paul is significantly better than we thought he would be. Part of me would like to see him [Jake Paul] get beat up. But if he does well it’s like, ‘Okay, I was clearly out of my league when I said yes.’ So, the expectation of me goes lower, which is fine.”
On the 29th of October, Jake Paul will face the biggest test of his career as he faces a highly experienced knockout striker in ‘The Spider‘ Anderson Silva.