In recent years, MMA has seen rise to some of the best combat athletes of the modern era. The savage and barbaric nature of the sport has forced competitors to constantly improve and innovate, and this ideal has been both a gift and a curse for Ben Askren.
At this point you may be wondering; Who is Ben Askren?
Ben Askren is an extremely outspoken nine year MMA veteran, holding an undefeated record of 17-0-1 and known for his highly controversial “lay and pray” fighting style. His most notable victories come against Douglas Lima (via decision), Jay Hieron (via decision) and Andrey Koreshkov (via doctors stoppage between rounds three and four).
Askren is a great example of how entertainment value can make or break a combat athlete’s notoriety, and a prime example of how being critical of Dana White, the UFC’s methods and the sport as a whole can come back and bite you permanently.
Askren has referred to himself as being “blacklisted” by the two biggest MMA organisations in the world (Bellator and UFC), which is stunning considering his fight record and his fighting credentials. To mention a few of his many accolades, Askren is a former Olympian in wrestling, a former Bellator champion (who also holds the record for recording the most amount of Bellator wins) and current One FC Champion. He has never been signed to the premier MMA organization, The UFC, and at 33-Years-Old, has just announced he is to retire after his next fight (against Shinya Aoki on November 24th at “One FC: Immortal Pursuit”).
Again, you may wonder why Askren has never fought under the UFC banner.
There isn’t a straightforward answer, although both Dana White and Ben Askren tell different stories as to why the signing never happened. Askren often refers to the “unfair contractual practices” implemented by the UFC, which was a direct reaction to his unsuccessful contract negotiations with the UFC in 2013. These negotiations led Askren to claim that he “got screwed pretty royally”. These failed contract talks have left a bitter taste in the mouth of Askren, who over the years has went on to attack the UFC and Dana White relentlessly.
On the other hand, Dana White pointed to Askren’s passion for the sport as the reason for the failed negotiations. In 2015, Dana White claimed Ben Askren “does not want to fight the best in the world” at a New York Press Conference, and also claimed “he’s not my kinda guy” (with reference to Ben Askren as a businessman and person).
We’ll probably never know how good Ben Askren truly was, due to the fact he never came up against the “world class” competition required to reach legend status, although if legend status was conditional on “beating what’s in front of you”, he’d be a hall of famer, no questions asked.
His “lay and pray” style may also be damaging to his reputation, with many MMA figures (such as Phil Baroni) referring to Askren as “boring” and “unwatchable”. It is worth noting that as a tactical approach, “lay and pray” has been extremely effective at neutralizing Askren’s opponents offense, whilst also limiting the damage which Askren has taken in his career. Askren has also been able to finish ten of his eighteen opponents within the distance, making him both clinical and punishing in grappling and ground and pound exchanges.
There’s nothing more temporary in combat sports than retirement; Look at Floyd Mayweather, Georges St.Pierre and BJ Penn as examples of this. However, if this is the final time we see Ben Askren fight, know that there will be a permanent footnote on both Askren’s career and the MMA Welterweight Division.
We’ll never truly know what we missed out on.
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