Ben Askren announces retirement, cites hip replacement surgery as determining factor

Ben Askren has announced his retirement.

After more than 10 years and 21 professional fights, Askren (19-2 MMA) is calling it quits. The former NCAA Division-I wrestler and Olympian made the announcement on “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show” on ESPN on Monday.

“I’m retiring from the sport of mixed martial arts,” Askren said. “I am retired from everything. I was thinking about it when we had last talked. Obviously, it’s been something I’ve been considering.”

The main factor in his decision, he said, was his health. The 35-year-old welterweight said he has been dealing with significant hip issues for the past few fights. Facing a hip replacement due to limited mobility, Askren decided now is the time.

“I’ve been having hip problems, and I finally had the discussion with my doctor,” Askren said. “I actually got the MRI before my last fight, and I need a hip replacement. Man, that’s it for me. I’ve been thinking about this for a week and what I was going to say. I’ve been filled with gratitude for how great of a career I’ve been able to have, even though obviously in the end, it did not turn out to go my way.”

Coming to grips with a bittersweet decision, Askren took a moment to reflect on all he’s accomplished in wrestling, combat sports and beyond. Overall, Askren said he’s been part of an amazing journey.

“I got really emotional the other day because I just started thinking about all the great experiences I’ve had,” Askren said. “Man, how lucky I’ve been to have the amount of success that I’ve had. From everywhere, right? From high school state titles, to junior national titles … to everything I did in college, whether it was national titles, the Hodge trophy, to the Olympic team, to a Bellator title, to a ONE title to – even this UFC thing.

“Man, I’m grateful that I had an opportunity to see if I could do it. If I never got that opportunity, that would have eaten at me as I got older.”

While he has no regrets about joining the UFC, Askren has mixed feelings on what he was able to accomplish once he signed with the organization. Askren finished with a 1-2 UFC record. His retirement comes on the heels of his first two professional losses.

“Just because I wasn’t good enough in 2019 doesn’t take away from any of my previous things that I’ve accomplished,” Askren said. “… Listen, I’ve achieved just about everything you can in the sport. But when it came to achieving the two biggest things in the world, the Olympic gold medal and then proving you’re the best fighter in the world, I came up a little bit short.

“Is it hard? Sure. Have I learned great lessons from that that I’m going to apply to the rest of my life? Yes, I am. So a little bit of it sucks, but man, what a life.”

After a successful high school and collegiate wrestling career, Askren competed in the 2008 Olympics. In 2009, Askren competed in his first professional MMA fight. After three wins in his first three fights, Askren was signed by Bellator.

At Bellator 22 in 2010, Askren won the welterweight tournament and was granted a title shot against Lyman Good. At Bellator 33, Askren beat Good to earn the 170-pound title, which he defended four times.

In May 2014, Askren left Bellator and joined ONE Championship. In his second fight under the promotion’s banner, Askren defeated Nobutatsu Suzuki to earn the promotion’s welterweight title. He fought five more times for ONE, going 4-0 with one no contest from 2015-2017.

In early 2019, Askren was traded to the UFC for former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson – an unprecedented occurrence amongst major MMA promotions.

At UFC 235 in March, Askren made his long-awaited promotional debut against Robbie Lawler. After absorbing a tremendous beating from Lawler in the opening minutes, Askren rallied to pull off a controversial submission victory in the first round.

Askren’s return to the cage a few months later was short-lived. He was on the receiving end of the quickest knockout in UFC history at UFC 239 in July. Taking on rival Jorge Masvidal, Asken was hit with a flying knee off the opening bell and knocked out cold just five seconds into the fight.

In what turned out to be the final fight of his MMA career, Askren returned to headline UFC on ESPN+ 20 in Singapore in late October. Taking on Demian Maia, Askren was submitted late in the third round. The fight earned the duo “Fight of the Night” honors.