There will always be questions about just how good Ben Askren was in his prime, with some feeling he was a top-five welterweight for years and others wondering how his credentials stacked up to the UFC’s elite.
It wasn’t until this past year that Askren had the opportunity to step into the Octagon after winning world titles in Bellator and ONE Championship and going undefeated in his first 19 pro bouts. While all three of his UFC appearances were memorable, the results did little to impress skeptics or those who were seeing Askren compete for the first time.
Askren went 1-2 in 2019, with his one win being a controversial submission win over Robbie Lawler and one of his losses being a five-second knockout at the hands of Jorge Masvidal. Following a second straight loss to Demian Maia, Askren announced that he would be retiring from MMA competition at the age of 35.
We’ll never know how Askren would have fared against the likes of Georges St-Pierre and Rory MacDonald, two elite welterweights who he’d expressed a desire to compete against on several occasions, but his coach Duke Roufus believes that if Askren had come to the UFC a few years earlier, the sky would have been the limit.
Coach: Ben Askren would have been UFC champion if he’d joined earlier
