Poll: Is Ben Askren Retiring Too Soon?

[ReadWrite]

It's All Over for Ben Askren, 35

“I am retiring from the spo[r]t of mixed martial arts,” Askren told Helwani (via ESPN’s Marc Raimondi).

Askren: "I’ve never brought these hip issues up. I don’t want people to think that was the reason I lost. I lost because I wasn’t good enough. My opponents were better. I don’t want these to be viewed as excuses."

Askren (19-2, 1 NC), a Wisconsin native, looked to get back on track against Maia in what was billed as a battle of the two top grapplers in all of mixed martial arts. Maia got the better of "Funky" via rear-naked choke submission at 3:54 of the third round.

Askren's legacy includes a legendary amateur wrestling career and an impressive résumé in MMA. He still holds the Bellator record for most successful and consecutive title defenses at four. Askren owns wins over the likes of Lawler, current Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima, UFC veteran Lyman Good and Aoki.

Perhaps more important than his victories was his ability to connect with the fan base and show class in defeat. In just 13 months with the UFC, Askren became one of the most popular and quotable fighters on the roster.

https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/28108822/ben-askren-35-announces-retirement-ufc

#HelwaniShow

 

[The Bard]

It's good timing for a first retirement.

 

[Headkicktoleg]

Yes, I want to see him get his head caved in a few more times

 

[VirginNose]

After all that talk he gave up after 3 fights in the ufc

 

[Wizzlebiz]

Why do we need a poll? Hes already outright said hes retiring. Hes making excuses about a hip issue when we all know its about not good enough issues.

Fuck it im picking no.

 

[Kvothe_the_kingkiller]

Good for him. Not my place to judge whether it's too soon for him to feel that it's time to retire or not.

Godspeed.

 

[drbolony]

No, he got finished in all of his UFC fights.

 

[LockardTheGOAT]

Mystic Lockard predicts that he'll return and win one fight, then lose the very next one after that and retire for good. His UFC record will be 2-3 and his MMA one 20-3 when it is all said and done.

 

[Dbreiden83080]

No.. UFC is the show. He can't hang..

 

[JabToucher]

How about a rematch with Robbie

 

[Clippy]

He's pullin a Ronda

Just take the loss and move on with your life - learn and improve

 

[blaseblah]

After all that talk he gave up after 3 fights in the ufc

His talk is exactly why he retired. He doesn't need money. He doesn't fight just to fight. He specifically wanted to fight in the UFC to see if he could beat the best fighters in the world. That question has been answered.

 

[ZxxRnn]

the man died vs jorge, let him rest easily

 

[jojoRed]

He absolutely has it in him to get one more win over a decent guy, I hope he does that. Retiring on a double loss will be a bad taste in his mouth after that undefeated record.

 

[vanillaisis]

No.. UFC is the show. He can't hang..

He would make you his wife though.

 

[eddi]

He should leave on a win

 

[Bob Sagat]

I enjoy closure, and I wasn't entirely sure I got the full spectrum of how Askren would ultimately do in the UFC.

He lost on the ground to the greatest BJJ practitioner in the UFC, and lost to a very low % one-hit knockout.
I wish he fought a few more, but at least we got an answer on how he was versus the upper-echelon. He didn't deliver.

 

[BooBoyMan]

Nope... Ben came out of retirement to fight in the UFC, probably because he thought he had a decent chance to get to the belt. He was wrong, so there's not really any point of him fighting anymore.
He's already made a lot of money.

 

[sdpdude9]

Probably a good move. I think he saw the writing on the wall that he isn’t going to touch the belt and isn’t getting any younger. His skill set was too one dimensional to succeed at the highest level. Many believed this to be true before he came over and he proved the doubters right. He’s retiring at a good time with some of his dignity in tact, it was just a matter of time before he got beat down again.

 

[Dbreiden83080]

He would make you his wife though.

I'll bite his dick off..