Ben Askren is debating the future of his MMA career after losing to Demian Maia at UFC on ESPN+ 20.
On Monday, Askren (19-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) admitted he’s undecided on what’s next after going from undefeated to sitting on back-to-back losses in a matter of months. After coming out of an 18-month retirement to make his UFC run earlier this year, the goal for Askren was to become champion. The third-round submission defeat to Maia in the welterweight headliner at Singapore Indoor Stadium put that goal out of reach for the time being, and it will take tremendous effort to get that position back.
“If I beat Demian Maia I’m probably one more good win away from a title shot,” Askren said on “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show”. “Now I look at my path, and I’m like ‘Oh (expletive).’ I’m kind of far away. Fortunes can change fast, but it’s probably minimum, minimum three fights. It could be upwards of four or five. Who knows? I don’t need to prove I’m a good fighter. I don’t need more money. I don’t need to be more famous. I don’t really want any of those things that badly. What I wanted to do was prove I’m the best in the world, and now I’m looking at how far away that is and how long it’s going to take me to get there and trying to weigh all that out.”
After suffering a five-second knockout loss to Jorge Masvidal in July at UFC 239 in what was his first career defeat, Askren returned for the matchup against Maia, who is a fellow grappler. Askren said he felt he was doing well before making an error that allowed Maia to sink in a fight-ending rear-naked choke in the third round.
Askren said the result didn’t make him feel as if he can’t compete with the top 170-pound fighters on the UFC roster. He thinks he’s capable of beating anyone on the right day, but he must make a decision of whether he wants to find out. At 35 and with plenty of ventures outside of MMA, Askren is torn over whether to start his post-fighting life now or delay retirement in favor of more fights.
“Retirement is definitely something I am considering,” Askren said. “I would be lying to you if I said I was not. It’s just a time-cost analysis. I have a lot of things to do in my life. I’m a really busy guy. I have a lot of things I’m passionate about, and I love. Not training specifically, but to and from setting stuff up, I’m probably spending about 30 hours a week on MMA related stuff. ‘Can I place my time better somewhere else’ is definitely a thought process that’s crossed my mind.
“That being said, two more things: All I ever wanted was an opportunity. That’s all I ever wanted. I got my opportunity, so it would be hard to be bitter or disgruntled in any way because I had the opportunity I wanted. I wasn’t able to execute on that opportunity, and that’s on me. That is kind of one thought process. Then the other thought process is part of me wants to fight more. I thought I was doing really well in the Demian Maia fight.”
Askren said he won’t rush into making a decision about his future. He will discuss all the positives and negatives with his inner circle then wait to see what opportunities the UFC presents.
“I would say my feelings are very, very mixed,” Askren said. “There’s parts of me that say, ‘Yeah, of course I want to fight some more. I think I can still compete with the best guys in the world.’ I’ve beaten some of the best guys in the world. Douglas Lima, I was really happy to see him get some credit this weekend after beating Rory MacDonald, because I think he’s fantastic. Part of me says, ‘Man, I’ve got a lot of things I want to do with my life, so I need to get to getting.’”
Ben Askren mulls retirement after UFC on ESPN+ 20 loss: 'My feelings are very, very mixed'