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On the recent edition of The Ariel Helwani show, UFC's Welterweight veteran Ben Askren announced his official retirement from the sport of mixed martial arts.
Ben Askren's run in the UFC
On November of 2018, the Ultimate Fighting Championship officially announced that the signing of former ONE and Bellator Welterweight Champion, Ben Askren in exchange for Demetrious Johnson, who was traded to ONE Championship in return.
In his promotional debut at UFC 235, Ben Askren faced former UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler in a fight which ended in a fairly controversial manner, courtesy of referee Herb Dean.
For his next fight, Askren faced Jorge Masvidal at UFC 239 and the fight ended within 5 seconds of the first round, as the former was caught by a brutal flying knee by 'Gamebred', in order to mark the fastest knockout in UFC history. In his last official fight, Askren lost to Demian Maia via submission in UFC Singapore on 26th October 2019.
Ben Askren's retirement from MMA
While speaking with Ariel Helwani on the recent edition of The MMA Show, Ben Askren announced his retirement from the sport of mixed martial arts, on the back of his recent loss to Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Demain Maia.
Askren, who prior to his loss to Masvidal was undefeated in the sport of MMA, also revealed that he has to undergo a hip replacement and has been suffering from hip issues for the past three to five years.
'Funky' further stated that he would've retired from the sport even if he hadn't been suffering from hip issues, given that he had already retired from MMA once prior to his eventual announcement.
