Robbie Lawler, Herb Dean, Ben Askren

Fighting out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, Ben “Funky” Askren, 34, is still an undefeated mixed martial artist. He defeated former UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie “Ruthless” Lawler, 36, of Coconut Creek, Florida, USA at “UFC 235” at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, USA on March 2, 2019.

Featuring 12 MMA bouts, “UFC 235” marked Askren’s debut in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In the 10th bout of the evening, he faced Lawler in the welterweight division.

Herb Dean served as the referee of the welterweight bout. He put a stop to the contest after 3 minutes and 20 seconds in the first round when Askren submitted Lawler via bulldog choke.

Winning at “UFC 235” improved Askren’s professional MMA record to 19 wins and 1 No Contest. On the other hand, Lawler now has 28 wins, 15 losses and 1 No Contest.

Before signing with the UFC, Askren was a ONE Championship athlete. He reigned as the ONE Welterweight World Champion from August 29, 2014 to October 24, 2018 when he vacated the title and moved to the UFC.

The first fighter to challenge Askren when he was the reigning ONE Welterweight World Champion was Luis “Sapo” Santos, 39, of Para, Brazil. Their bout at “ONE: Valor of Champions” at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines ended in a No Contest due to eye poke.

As the ONE Welterweight World Champion, Askren had three successful title defenses. He defeated Agilan “Alligator” Thani, 23, of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at “ONE: Dynasty of Heroes”  at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore on May 26, 2017, Zebaztian “The Bandit” Kadestam, 28, of Sweden at “ONE Championship: Shanghai” at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China on September 2, 2017 and Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki, 35, of Shizuoka, Japan at “ONE: Immortal Pursuit” at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on November 24, 2017.

Askren is one of the MMA fighters who have competed in three of the top MMA promotions in the world namely the UFC, ONE Championship and Bellator MMA.  He compete in Bellator MMA, then Bellator Fighting Championships, from 2010 to 2013.

Watch Askren’s “UFC 235” post-fight interview with Joe Rogan in the octagon here: