Ben Askren announced his retirement from the UFC on Monday, just a little more than a year after joining the promotion with considerable fanfare.
"I'm retiring from the sport of MMA," Askren said on Ariel Helwani's MMA Show. "Frankly, I'm retiring from everything."
Askren, who said he needs a hip replacement, was coming off back-to-back losses, the most recent to Demian Maia in the main event of UFC Singapore on Oct. 26.
Askren, 35, gained fame quickly in the UFC, becoming one of the biggest lightning rods in the sport due to his quick wit and willingness to engage anyone in trash talk -- including UFC president Dana White.
Demetrious Johnson to Asia's ONE in exchange for Askren. It wasn't a traditional trade like what would be common in team sports. The UFC agreed to release Johnson, who came to his own new deal with ONE. ONE did the same with Askren, who signed with the UFC.
Prior to the trade, Askren had retired from ONE after a 57-second TKO win over Shinya Aoki on Nov. 24, 2017. A former Olympic wrestler in 2008 and two-time NCAA champion at the University of Missouri, Askren had always wanted to ply his trade in the UFC to prove he was the best welterweight in the world. But after the UFC spurned him when he was a free agent in 2013, Askren had resigned himself to the possibility he'd never compete in the promotion.