Ben Askren recently announced his retirement from mixed martial arts.
“Funky” went 1-2 in the UFC after being the former welterweight champion in Bellator and ONE Championship. Yet, many including Brendan Schaub believe Askren came to the UFC too late, and understands why he is retiring.
“I don’t have a problem with it, Schaub said of Ben Askren’s retirement on his Below The Belt podcast (via BJPENN.com). “It’s like, he came when he was older. He’s what? 35? So it’s like he came late to the game, was in some big fights. I still think the UFC got the most benefit from the trade with ‘Mighty Mouse.’ You don’t have the legend of [Jorge] Masvidal without Ben Askren. It takes two to tango to become a superstar. Ben helped with that. His sh*t talking, his controversial fight with Robbie Lawler. I get it. Then you lose to Demian Maia, so it’s kind of like what else is he gonna do?
“I know people wanna sh*t on Ben Askren,” Schaub continued. “I don’t get it. Kudos to him cause he didn’t have to do anything. Kudos for him for giving it a go man. Being like, ‘alright it didn’t work out.’ You beat Robbie Lawler. Obviously super controversial but he still beat Robbie Lawler, a Hall of Famer. So it’s like, alright now we know. Cool man.”
Ben Askren ends his MMA career with a record of 19-2 and one no-contest. As Schaub says, he had a heck of a career which includes beating Lawler.
