Ben Askren News

Justin Golightly - December 8, 2017

When Ben Askren retired with a squeaky clean record at ONE: Immortal Pursuit, he left an asterisk above the ‘R’ word. He said that the only thing that could lure him back was a shot at the best welterweight in the world, not the third best, not the second best, but the best. The only problem with that was that Georges St-Pierre was a middleweight now and Tyron Woodley is too great of a friend for Askren to look for a fight with. However, as of last night, St-Pierre is no longer a middleweight and has vacated his middleweight title. That was enough for Askren to double-down on his call-out. @GeorgesStPierre if you want to make it more interesting I’ll put my bitcoin against yours as a side bet that you don’t make it 5 rounds against me.

Justin Golightly - November 28, 2017

After demolishing Japanese MMA veteran Shinya Aoki at ONE: Immortal Pursuit, Ben Askren rode his funky train into the sunset, retiring from MMA for good. …Or maybe not. Freshly-retired Askren took to Twitter to plant the seed of a possible return fight with Georges St-Pierre. If you think this opens the door to a bunch of other potential match-ups, you’re wrong. For Askren, it’s either the “best in the world” or he’s happy to move on to a new chapter outside of the cage. “I’ve never said I’m retired, period. I’ve said that I’m retired with the caveat that if I somehow get to fight to prove that I’m No. 1 in the world, I will take that opportunity. I’m not gonna fight to be No. 3 or 5 or 7 or anything else. Just to be No. 1, that’s it. It’s not really a money thing, it’s a pride thing. There’s this other guy who was a very famous welterweight named Georges St-Pierre who doesn’t seem to have a dance partner right now and doesn’t seem to want to fight Tyron [Woodley] or Robert Whittaker. So I figure, he doesn’t want to get hit hard, I don’t hit that hard. So we might as well just get in there and get after it.“If he needs a dance partner, I’m more than willing to do it. I’ll come to Montreal and fit the bill for him. We’ll fill out the Bell Centre.”

Chris Taylor - November 25, 2017

Ben Askren put the Ultimate Fighting Championship on blast for allowing Michael Bisping to co-headline today’s UFC Fight Night 122 event in Shanghai, China. Askren took to Twitter shortly following Bisping’s brutal first-round knockout loss to Kelvin Gastelum where he proceeded to criticize the UFC’s decision to let “The Count” fight just “3 weeks after being concussed”.

Justin Golightly - November 25, 2017

He came, he wrestled, he got funky, now he’s gone. Ben Askren was able to take out multiple-time lightweight champion and grappling guru Shinya Aoki at ONE Championship’s Immortal Pursuit in his retirement fight. He walks away from the sport with little to no damage and boasts an undefeated record of 18 wins, 11 of those victories being finishes. While he never got to display his skills inside the UFC’s Octagon, Askren is completely content with how his career has played out. That isn’t to say that an asterisk isn’t always above the ‘R’ word, but it would have to be something massive to get Askren to fight again. @GeorgesStPierre how’s the spring weather in Montreal? I hear it’s a nice time to test your true Martial Arts skills

Tom Taylor - September 7, 2017

Shortly after his destruction of Zebaztian Kadestam at last weekend’s ONE Championship: Shanghai event, it was announced that Ben Askren’s next fight would be his last. His opponent in this November 24 retirement fight, it was revealed, would be Japanese lightweight veteran Shinya Aoki, who stands out as one of the finest submission players in MMA history. Speaking on BJ Penn Radio, Askren revealed that this awesome matchup was initially a surprise to even him:

Jason Kindschy - September 6, 2017

BJPENN Radio is back tonight at 8PM ET/5PM PT with more of what you crave! 8:15PM ET- Kicking off the show tonight we are joined by the No. 3 Ranked UFC Flyweight, Ray “The Tazmexican Devil” Borg. Just days before the biggest fight of his career we’ll preview Ray’s first attempt at UFC gold as he faces the pound-for-pound best athlete in MMA, Demetrious Johnson. While DJ looks to break the record of most title defenses in UFC history, Borg has his own plans to steal the show and become one the youngest champions at just 24 years of age. You’ll hear why the Jackson/Wink-trained Borg believes he is the one to dethrone “Mighty Mouse” and where he expects to have clear advantages.

Tom Taylor - September 4, 2017

“Funky” Ben Askren has long been regarded as one of the best welterweights outside the UFC, and perhaps the best fighter outside the UFC period. Over the weekend, in the main event of ONE Championship’s stop in Shanghai, the seemingly unstoppable wrestling specialist added to that reputation with a lopsided mauling of Zebaztian Kadestam. As it turns out, his ferocious TKO of Kadestam will go down as the second last fight of his career.

Justin Golightly - September 2, 2017

Ben Askren retains his title, tells @awawisconsin to get ready to get back to work on Tuesday. @FloWrestling #ONEShanghai pic.twitter.com/Hca3VTkJTY — FloCombat (@FloCombat) September 2, 2017

bjpenndotcom - July 12, 2017

BJPENN.COM Radio returns at 8PM ET/5PM PT with Ben Askren and Rich Franklin! 8:15PM ET- We kick things off with ONE FC Welterweight Champ and arguably the best grappler in MMA today, Ben Askren. “Funky” Ben is several weeks removed from his most recent title defense and we’ll getting the scoop on when he expects to be back in competition. As outspoken as they come, Ben will give us his take on some of MMA’s hot topics and big fights coming up. From working with Tyron Woodley leading up to UFC 214, to being the most dominant champion under the ONE FC banner, we’ll cover it all with Askren.

bjpenndotcom - February 25, 2017

It’s no secret that UFC lightweight #1 contender Khabib Nurmagomedov possesses some of the most dominant wrestling, and lethal ground and pound in the entire sport of MMA. In addition to holding the UFC record for most takedowns landed in a fight, Nurmagomedov is one of the few men in the UFC with an undefeated record. Throughout the course of his UFC run, Nurmagomedov has displayed not only phenomenal takedowns, but also the rare ability to completely control his opponents on the ground while landing brutal ground and pound shots that he uses to either open up submissions, or finish his opponents.

Russell Ess - January 27, 2017

With the growing popularity of mixed martial arts, there is still a lot of issues that many involved are battling. With the recent fighter’s unions and associations being created, one thing that many fighters are looking for is getting mixed martial arts covered under the “Ali Act.”

Tom Taylor - January 25, 2017

While a case can certainly be made for Douglas Lima, Rory MacDonald and Jon Fitch, it’s very possible that One Championship welterweight king Ben Askren is the best welterweight outside the UFC. Despite his status as such, however, the former Bellator champ has yet to reach a deal with the UFC, and so its impossible to say how he’d fare against the promotion’s best welterweights. That, however, hasn’t stopped him from talking about these potential fights. On a recent episode of Chael Sonnen’s You’re Welcome podcast, Askren offered his thoughts on how fights with the UFC’s two best welterweights would go.

Chris Taylor - October 17, 2016

Following news of former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges Saint Pierre becoming a free agent, ONE FC champion Ben Askren has officially called out GSP. The longtime UFC champ broke the news of his free agency on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, and Askren must have been listening, as he tweeted this just minutes after GSP’s announcement:

Chris Taylor - April 22, 2016

Former Bellator welterweight champion and current ONE Championship title holder Ben Askren (15-0 MMA) took to Twitter Friday night to poke fun at former UFC title holder Benson Henderson for losing his Bellator debut. “Funky”, who defeated Andrey Koreshkov via fourth-round TKO at Bellator 97 in July of 2013, had the following tweets directed at “Bendo’s” performance:

bjpenndotcom - April 15, 2016

https://youtu.be/EalADPMrPJQ Friday morning, Ben Askren and Nikolay Aleksakhin went to war at ‘ONE Championship: Global Rivals’.

bjpenndotcom - February 11, 2016

This has to be one of the funniest videos we’ve seen in quite some time.