How good was prime Askren?

[Gracious Warrior]

The end of Ben Askren's career was an ebarrassment. Should have been 0-3 in UFC and got humiliated by JP a YouTuber.

But his record says that he was actually good at one point. So we have to assume he was well passed his prime in his uFC and celebrity boxing run.

So how good was prime Askren and how would he have done in the UFC?

 

[TerryBogard]

Askren plain sucks, he isnt a mma fighter, only a wrestler.

 

[Luthien]

Wrestling good
Everything else

 

[Lawblaw]

Not that good

 

[dittohead84]

Fought lesser competition, was younger so he was better than what he was when he came to the ufc. Great wrassler no matter what. Elite melon squeezer

 

[TheMessiah]

He was good but really overrated by people. He got smashed by Sapo, should have lost to Hieron. But he was already past his best when he came to the UFC

 

[Al-Musoroah]

He could have been very great if he learned some striking defense.

 

[blastoff]

Prime Askren went to a split decision with Jay Hieron

About all you need to know

 

[Dan Torrance]

at boxing?

 

[The Bloody Nine]

He could have been very great if he learned some striking defense.

Or offense.

 

[bjjwar]

He beat Lawler while past his prime, which means he was UFC champ caliber

 

[NicholasJBasile]

I know it's the cool thing to do these days to roast Askren and I can concede that even during the height of his career, he had many detractors, but I was never one of them. Though perhaps an unpopular opinion, I feel that at his best, he was a top 5 welterweight. His striking never developed and even his grappling was rough around the edges, but his style was incredibly suffocating and hard to beat. His stamina was phenomenal. Similar to how he wrestled in college, he was a master at creating scrambles, even if he started the scramble out in a bad position or even on bottom in some cases.

Though I feel that he didn't fight in the UFC during his prime, there is sufficient evidence to conclude that he never had what it took to become UFC champion -- his striking just never developed and he didn't have the tools to supplement his ground game. However, the sport wasn't quite as evolved during his prime as it is now, and I feel that he was very tough. I'm not going to try to convince folks that disagree with me otherwise -- I get it. It's just my opinion.

 

[Striker Fox]

He beat Douglas Lima, Koreshkov, Lawler.....and destroyed Aoki in 57 seconds

 

[Kenny Diaz]

WTF just watched this vid and this post pop up.

 

[Gamer007]

One of the biggest overachievers in the history of the sport, didn’t even take the sport seriously and hardly kept himself in anything resembling top shape, yet became a notable fighter with good wins.

He had numerous fights where he should’ve been put to sleep and soundly dominated, but through some durability and a little luck, came out on top.

Despite some good wins during his career, I don’t think he was ever legitimately an elite top 20 caliber fighter. He never had a skill set to survive against pro fighters at the top level, guys who could watch tape and expose his numerous deficiencies. Once he was really in the sight of the MMA world, he didn’t last very long.


His win against Lawler is the ultimate definition of his career, totally outclassed by someone who is superior in nearly every aspect of MMA, yet through a great chin and some luck, pulls off the impossible.

 

[IndyCovaHart]

This was the guy who was supposed to have beat GSP.

 

[Karl_Hungus]

You saw his UFC fights. He sucked ass. He has good wrestling, but that's it. He lucked out against Robbie.

 

[Stixx]

One of the biggest overachievers in the history of the sport, didn’t even take the sport seriously and hardly kept himself in anything resembling top shape, yet became a notable fighter with good wins.

He had numerous fights where he should’ve been put to sleep and soundly dominated, but through some durability and a little luck, came out on top.

Despite some good wins during his career, I don’t think he was ever legitimately an elite top 20 caliber fighter. He never had a skill set to survive against pro fighters at the top level, guys who could watch tape and expose his numerous deficiencies.


His win against Lawler is the ultimate definition of his career, totally outclassed by someone who is superior in nearly every aspect of MMA, yet through a great chin and some luck, pulls off the impossible.

Gotta admire his grit and determination. Coupled with a great wrestling background that's what took him so far. If Lawler had fought his way out of that choke, however, everything suggests to me that Askren was in for a serious beating worse than what had already been put on him prior to the stoppage. We will never know, of course, and my hat is off to Askren for weathering that storm, but he would never have done very well in the UFC, imo.

 

[ltarian11]

Ben was tough in his prime, but in my opinion never would have won a UFC title, maybe a top 20 guy for a while. He never committed to becoming a well-rounded MMA fighter so I can't give him high rating as an MMA fighter.

 

[fortheo]

Better than most give him credit for, but not ufc champ material. Top ten material though for sure.