Askren's problem was timing, not skill

[fortheo]

His problem was losing by a one in a million knock out by masvidal and then facing the worst stylistic match up for him in the division in Maia.

 

[vanillaisis]

You mean win? That's the whole point of MMA (and any sport). Sadly, Ben's striking is so bad he'd probably lose a 5-round kickboxing fight vs. Maia.

Winning is great for the fighter, not so much for the fan when the fighter puts on a boring ass performance. The fans wanted grappling. Ben gave us grappling.

 

[IsNormal]

If he had joined the UFC earlier he might have had more losses earlier in his career which could've made him feel more forced to elevate his game further.
With better striking he could've become a real force.

Still, we may never know if his UFC run would've been seen in a more positive light if he had got some different opponents. I think he could win quite a few fights in the top 15.

 

[fortheo]

He couldn't even fucking beat Damian Maia who's 42. This wasn't an issue with no being in his prime.

For a guy who only wrestles, I can't think of a worse match up in the division than demian Maia. Even an old Maia is stylistically one of his worst match ups. Nobody else would sweep askren like that, put him on his back, pass his guard like butter, take his back and choke him out.

 

[mkt]

For a guy who only wrestles, I can't think of a worse match up in the division than demian Maia. Even an old Maia is stylistically one of his worst match ups. No body else would sweep askren like that, put him on his back, pass his guard like butter, take his back and choke him out.

Palhares would've made him tap to a leg lock in the 1st round....not a doubt in my mind on that one.

 

[Airdack]

He oversimplified his entry.

Just waist bend + walk down.

Should've mask his penetration step via jab/hand fighting & not always chase bodylocks IMO.

But he's not type of guy who uses momentum to put ya on your ass, rather pure skill and chains off of clinch.

He used to shoot really well. People keep downplaying it but he took the OneFC contract for the money and publicly said he was giving up on being the best after the UFC fell through.

Hell he announced his retirement from MMA before getting the call and fighting fucking Lawler as his debut.

UFC hung my boy out to dry.

 

[fortheo]

Palhares would've made him tap to a leg lock in the 1st round....not a doubt in my mind on that one.

I could see it happening, but im saying that askren really only lost by an extremely low percentage knockout by masvidal and to possibly the only grappler better than him in the UFC's WW division.

I don't see much shame in losing to possibly the next title contender, and then losing to a former 2 time title Challenger who happens to be a bad stylistic match up for him.

Plenty of good fighters have lost to Maia and Masvidal, so yeah, Ben's stock dropped, but I don't view him as a can as many people seem to do now adays.

 

[magicmarker]

While I agree with TS and the OP; I can’t help but chuckle at the line about colitis when I look at the av and think about the guy who needed knee surgery every time someone mentioned Romero’s name.

 

[magicmarker]

I could see it happening, but im saying that askren really only lost by an extremely low chance knockout by masvidal and possibly the only grappler better than him in the UFC's WW division.

I doy that see much shame in losing to possibly the next title contender, and then losing to a former 2 time title Challenger who happens to be a bad stylistic match up for him.

Plenty of good fighters have lost to Maia and Masvidal, so yeah, Ben's stock dropped, but I don't view him as a can as many people seem to do now adays.

I agree 100%. He had more interesting stylistic matchups out there (Nate for example) that would’ve shown more about what he could or couldn’t do at this stage of his career.

 

[sk34x2]

Askren sucks

Let it go you bum

 

[Stalingrad9]

He fought Lawler, Masvidal and Maia. Mileage wasn't the problem lol

 

[Espresso]

Him and Elias Theodoro would make an exceptional Ballett duo...imho

 

[Espresso]

Him and Elias Theodoro would make an exceptional Ballett duo...imho

UNDERATED

Or figure skating.

Someone please shoop Ben and Elias on this.

YES

 

[chuckleknuckle]

He came to the UFC too late in his career.....too much wrestling mileage on his body, and not fighting enough top tier fighters before he came over. 5-6 years earlier, he would have been a dominant champion. His pure wrestling is still better than 95% of these guys anyway.

Go ahead and pretend he's a can if it helps you sleep at night, but at least he didn't "catch colitis" when the killers came his way.

His stand up sucked even worse 5-6 years ago. That flying knee would have landed on any version of him and Maia is about 65 years old. Robbie was fighting about 200 ufcs ago.

I know you are trolling, but don't make it so easy to rebuke. It kills the trolling too quickly.

 

[Paolo Delutis]

He came to the UFC too late in his career.....too much wrestling mileage on his body, and not fighting enough top tier fighters before he came over. 5-6 years earlier, he would have been a dominant champion. His pure wrestling is still better than 95% of these guys anyway.

Go ahead and pretend he's a can if it helps you sleep at night, but at least he didn't "catch colitis" when the killers came his way.

Man let it go...

Askren was never good at MMA...he beat subpar fighters and got hit by lightning against lawler...

No version of askren was UFC quality..

Hughes would of eaten him alive..

Gsp stops him

Hendricks stops him

Lawler stops him

Hell even josh koscheck probably tkos him..

Bj penn probanly submits him..

The guy is good at wrestling...thats it...wrestling alone cant make you a champion in the UFC

Askren was never UFC quality...

 

[chuckleknuckle]

He was talking retirement before he even made it to the UFC

So were the rolling stones, and they are still going. Each with at least one new hip.

 

[Paolo Delutis]

Palhares would've made him tap to a leg lock in the 1st round....not a doubt in my mind on that one.

Shit...id say

Palhares would of made him retire that night...cuz hes leg would most likely be coming home with palhares..

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

He was always extremely overrated imo. Also he could have signed with the UFC back in 2013, would have been 29 and would have been given a top 10 opponent right away. Also he's losing to guys that are his age or older and have way more fight mileage lol. Maia was 41 (almost 42).

 

[ClosetVitorFan]

Ben Askren wanted to test hinself against the elite to see if he could cut rhe mustard, he couldn't. He admits that much in his retirement statements. At least he tried and wont go through life of "maybe i could have been ufc champion" the answer is a resounding NO. But at least he knows now, instead of not knowing. He has balls for sure. Plus hes rich, dont feel sorry for him.

 

[Franklin U.]

mileage ???? what mileage? His professional record doesnt consist of 50 fights ....or 40..... or even 30( think) ....and a wrestler base vs cans.

Also, Ben not 41-42 so let's take it down a notch. Was he in his " fighting prime " coming over - probably not as he had stopped previously but he got tapped by a guy at his point of career where Ben was actually being thrown a mulligan ...... and he got subbed. I was one of the ones who was thinking Askren was going to do some big things coming over. Skill, obviously, did have something to do with it.

 

[TerrorTimmy]

Pro fighters for years and still no striking at all. Not even basics. Id say its lack of skill

This.

The guy absolutely refused to learn anything outside his own base skill set. All those years in MMA and he looks like a kid taking their first boxing lesson when he throws a punch.

Askren could have been an elite fighter if he had learned to round out his game. Even Khabib has developed decent striking. But there's Askren, overconfident and over-reliant on his wrestling. Then he found out the hard way why he needed to evolve, but it was too late. He got put out 3 times in 3 fights.