Ben Askren Biography
Benjamin Michael Askren professionally known as Ben Askren is an American retired mixed martial artist as well as an amateur wrestler. He was also the former Bellator and ONE Welterweight Champion before competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He was also the US Olympic Team Member and Pan American Champion in freestyle wrestling. He was also a World Champion in submission wrestling. He also co-hosts a couple of weekly wrestling podcasts: 'FloWrestling Radio Live' with Christian Pyles on FloWrestling, 'The Funky & FRB Show' with Front Row Brian on Rokfin, and 'The T-Row & Funky Show' with two-time NCAA Champion Tommy Rowlands. He retired from mixed martial arts competition on 18th November 2019. After back-and-forth on social media, Ben is scheduled to face YouTube personality Jake Paul in a boxing match, on 17th April 2021. About his MMA career records, he fought 22 matches where he won 19 matches and lost 2 matches. Scroll more to know about Ben Askren's full biography, personal life, early & childhood life, family, career stats, retirement, wiki, facts, age, & more.
Ben is scheduled to face YouTube personality Jake Paul in a boxing match, on 17th April 2021. Recently in the news, Ben Askren and his wife Amy Askren took on Jake Paul's offensive comments perfectly in stride. Earlier in an interview with ESPN's Ariel Helwani, Jake Paul had referred to Amy Askren as "thicc", which is an internet slang with sexual connotations. Ben Askren laughed it off on Twitter, saying he agreed with him that his wife was attractive. Jake referred to Amy as a new "internet celebrity" because he has been taking her name. When asked to give her honest opinion on being called "thicc" and whether she considered it offensive or complimentary, Amy Askren shrugged it off, saying she did not even know what it meant. To fight against Ben, Jorge Masvidal is training Jake Paul. Masvidal famously knocked out Askren in just five seconds during a UFC match in 2019. Masvidal used a flying knee against Askren. Askren and Paul will go head-to-head in an eight-round boxing match on April 17. The fight comes months after Paul defeated former NBA guard Nate Robinson in a boxing match in November. That fight was widely mocked by professional boxers and analysts.
Ben Askren is famous for being a retired professional mixed martial artist and amateur wrestler. He is best known for his pinning ability (he holds the single-season NCAA pin record); his massive afro; and his "funky", or unorthodox, wrestling style.
Source: @onefc
With the sun sign of Cancer, Ben Askren was born on 18th July 1984 in Cedar Rapids, Linn County, Iowa, the USA (birthplace/hometown). His real name/birth name is Benjamin Michael Askren. He holds an American nationality and his ethnic background is American-White. His race is White. As of 2020, he celebrated his 36th birthday and he will next be celebrating his 37th birthday as of 2021 on 18th July. About his family members, he was born to his parents; Chuck Askren (father) and Michele Askren (mother). He also has a sibling; a younger brother named Max Askren. His younger brother Max also wrestled for Missouri and won a national championship in 2010. Concerning his education, he attended the Arrowhead High School in Hartland, Wisconsin. He then joined the University of Missouri, a public research university in Columbia, Missouri.
Ben Askren is a very handsome man with a glowing smile. He stands tall at the perfect height of 5 ft 10 in or 178 cm. His balanced weight consists of 170 lb or 77 Kg or 12 st 2 lb. His highest reach is 6 ft or 183 cm. His body build is athletic. He has a pair of blue eyes color and his hair color is light brown. He has frizzy and curly hair with an affable smile attracting a lot of people towards him. His other body measurements have not been publicized yet. He has not inked any tattoos on his body.
Ben Askren Career
Wrestling Career
- About his wrestling career, initially, Ben began being an assistant wrestling coach at Arizona State University.
- He was also an American amateur wrestler for the University of Missouri.
- What's more, he is a two-time state champion in wrestling at Arrowhead High School in Wisconsin.
- During his college career, he wrestled in the 174 lb. weight class where he lost to Chris Pendleton in 2004 & 2005 but Ben later won in 2006 & 2007.
- During his 2005-2006 season, he won all of these 45 matches, pinning in 25 of them.
- He won the 174-pound weight class easily at both the Big 12 and NCAA Championships and also won his Big 12 finals match 17-6 over Jacob Klein of Nebraska and his NCAA finals match 14-2 over future two times NCAA champion, Dan Hodge Trophy winner, and World silver medalist Jake Herbert of Northwestern.
- In the 2006-2007 season, he was undefeated with the record of 42-0 winning his second consecutive NCAA Championship at 174 Pounds by defeating
- another future NCAA champion, second-ranked Keith Gavin of Pittsburgh, 8-2.
- With an 87 match winning streak, he finished his collegiate career.
- It was announced that he would be one of six new inductees to the University of Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame on 9th January 2012.
- He then defeated national runner-up Tyrone Lewis in the summer of 2008. He won his very first match against Hungarian Istvan Vereb via pinning at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Later, he lost to Cuba's Ivan Fundora.
- After that, he thought to pursue his career in MMA and compete in wrestling occasionally.
- He then avenged his Olympic loss by defeating Fundora in the semifinals of Cerro Pelado International, in Cuba. He also defeated 2009 world silver medalist Jake Herbert.
- In the year 2019 of May, he lost by technical superiority to Jordan Burroughs in the annual Beat the Streets benefit event.
- After spending a little over a year in retirement from his MMA career, he announced a successful hip surgery in 2020 and revealed that he intends to return to competitive freestyle wrestling soon.
MMA Career
- On 7th February 2009, Ben made his MMA debut and he defeated Josh Flowers via TKO early in the first round and then he defeated Mitchell Harris via submission by arm triangle.
- At the 2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship from September 26-27, he won his very first match against Toni Linden via arm-triangle choke. But he lost to the second match to Pablo Popovitch, a veteran grappler.
- He also competed at the 2009 FILA 2° World Grappling Championship where he won gold in the category of 84 kg no-gi division.
- He was also a participant in Bellator Fighting Championships Season 2 Welterweight Tournament where he defeated Ryan Thomas, Dan Hornbuckle, Nick Thompson, Karl Amoussou, Andrey Koreshkov.
- After then, he signed a 2 year/6 fight contract with ONE Championship on 9th December 2013. Haced Suzuki at ONE Fighting Championship: Reign of Champions on August 29, 2014, where he won the fight via TKO.
- Then, he faced Luis Santos in the main event at ONE Championship: Valor of Champions on April 24. The fight was ruled "no contest".
- He next beat Russia's Nikolay Aleksakhin at the ONE Championship: Global Warriors on April 15, 2016, by unanimous decision. Against Agilan Thani on 26th May 2017, he won the fight via submission due to an arm-triangle choke.
- Later, he faced Zebaztian Kadestam on 7th September 2017 and won the fight via TKO.
- His last fight was against veteran Shinya Aoki at ONE Championship: Immortal Pursuit on November 24, 2017, where he won the fight via TKO. After this fight, he retired from MMA. He later claimed he would fight St. Pierre in the spring of 2019.
UFC Career
- It was announced on 3rd November 2018 that the UFC had signed Askren under the "trade UFC and One Championship agreement", in exchange for former UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson. He then made his UFC debut against Robbie Lawler on 2nd March 2019 at UFC 235 where he won the fight.
- He next faced against Jorge Masvidal on 6th July 2019 at UFC 239 where he was violently knocked out with a flying knee 5 seconds into the first round, the fastest knockout in UFC history.
- His next fight was against Demian Maia on October 26, 2019, at UFC on ESPN+ 20 where he lost the fight via submission in round three.
- He then retired from the mixed martial arts competition on 18th November 2019.
- After back-and-forth on social media, Ben is scheduled to face YouTube personality Jake Paul in a boxing match, on 17th April 2021.
Beside this,
- Ben is competitive in the sport of disc golf. He finished 9th in the Amateur World Championships in the year 2009.
- He is also involved in cryptocurrency investing.
- He co-hosts a couple of weekly wrestling podcasts: 'FloWrestling Radio Live' with Christian Pyles on FloWrestling, 'The Funky & FRB Show' with Front Row Brian on Rokfin, and 'The T-Row & Funky Show' with two-time NCAA Champion Tommy Rowlands.
Everything You Need To Know About Jake Paul
Source: @instagram.com/benaskren
Awards and Achievements of Ben Askren
Mixed martial arts
Ultimate Fighting Championship
- Fight of the Night (One time) vs. Demian Maia
Bellator Fighting Championships
- Bellator Welterweight Championship (One time)
- Four successful title defenses
- Bellator Season 2 Welterweight Tournament Championship
- Most consecutive title defenses in Bellator history (4)
- Most successful title defenses in Bellator history (4)
- Undefeated (9-0)
ONE Championship
- ONE Welterweight Championship (One time)
- Three successful title defenses
undefeated (7-0)
Disc golf
Professional Disc Golf Association
- 2011 United States Amateur Disc Golf Championship 2nd Place
- 2009 PDGA Amateur World Doubles Championships Advanced 4th Place
- 2009 St. Louis Open Advanced 2nd Place
- 2009 Mighty MO Advanced 1st Place
- 2009 First Class Challenge 3rd place
- 2006 Alabama Amateur Open Intermediate 3rd Place
- 2005 Highnoon at Indiantown Intermediate 2nd Place
Submission grappling
Abu Dhabi Combat Club
- 2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships Quarterfinalist
International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles
- FILA 2009 Grappling World Championships Senior No-Gi Gold Medalist
USA Wrestling
- FILA World Team Trials Senior No-Gi Winner (2009)
Amateur wrestling
International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles
- 2010 Cerro Pelado International Senior Freestyle Silver Medalist
- 2010 Dave Schultz Memorial International Open Senior Freestyle Gold Medalist
- 2009 Hargobind International Senior Freestyle Gold Medalist
- 2009 Sunkist Kids International Open Senior Freestyle Silver Medalist
- 2008 Kiev International Senior Freestyle Bronze Medalist
- 2007 NYAC Holiday International Open Senior Freestyle Gold Medalist
- 2007 Hargobind International Tournament Senior Freestyle Gold Medalist
- 2005 Pan American Championships Senior Freestyle Gold Medalist
USA Wrestling
- USA Senior Freestyle Olympic Team Trials Winner (2008)
- USA Junior Freestyle World Team Trials Winner (2004)
- USA Senior Freestyle National Championship (2008)
- ASICS Tiger High School All-American (2002)
- West Junior Freestyle Regional Championship (2002)
- Northern Plains Junior Freestyle Regional Championship (2001, 2002)
National Collegiate Athletic Association
- NCAA Division I Collegiate National Champion (2006, 2007)
- NCAA Division I All-American (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) 4x NCAA Finalist
- Big 12 Conference Championship (2004, 2006, 2007)
- Dan Hodge Trophy Collegiate Wrestler of the Year (2006, 2007)
- University of Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame (2012)
National Wrestling Coaches Association
- Schalles Award Top Collegiate Pinner of the Year (2006, 2007)
National High School Coaches Association
- NHSCA Senior High School National Championship Runner-up (2002)
- NHSCA Senior All-American (2002)
Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association
- WIAA Division I High School State Championship (2000, 2001)
- WIAA Division I All-State (1999, 2000, 2001)
- Classic 8 Conference Championship (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002)
George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
- George Tragos Award (2018)
Ben Askren Personal Life
Source: @instagram.com/benaskren
Ben Askren is a married man. He married his beautiful wife, Amy Askren who is a real estate agent by profession. Their wedding was held on 9th April 2010. The duo is also blessed with three kids; a son and two daughters. As of today, the couple is enjoying their present life happily without any disturbances. His sexual orientation is straight and he is not gay.
Ben Askren Net Worth and Salary
A retired professional mixed martial artist and amateur wrestler, Ben Askren's net worth is estimated to have $10 Million as of 2021 as per sources. He is currently under the contract of UFC, where he has fought thrice. As per Sports Daily, Askren has earned $830,500 during his time with UFC. Whereas his last fight earnings were $263,500. But his exact salary and career earning are still missing. As per his cars, he owns an orange Lamborghini. He has his own mansion in Wisconsin, the USA. Back then, he is sponsored by Discraft.
