Benjamin “Ben” Askren is an American grappler who is a former Olympic wrestler and a retired mixed martial artist. His brother Max Askren is also a wrestler.
Born in Cedar Rapids, Linn County, Iowa, United States to Chuck Askren and Michele Askren, Ben grew up in Hartland, Waukesha County, Wisconsin, USA. Ben competed as a wrestler when he attended Arrowhead High School in Hartland and the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, USA.
Between 2004 and 2007, Ben won two gold medals and two silver medals in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Wrestling Championships and three gold medals and one silver medal in the Big 12 Championships. In men’s freestyle wrestling, he won gold at the 2005 Pan American Champions and the 2008 U.S. National Champions and in men’s grappling, he won gold at the 2009 World Championships.
As an MMA fighter, Ben competed in the welterweight and middleweight divisions and his fight name was Funky. He is 5’10” tall.
In 2009, Ben started training at Roufusport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From 2014 to 2017, he trained at Evolve MMA in Singapore.
Ben is one of the few MMA fighters who competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bellator MMA and ONE Championship before retiring. Here are 13 more things about him:
- He and Amy Askren have two daughters and one son.
- He holds a professional MMA record of 19 wins and 2 losses.
- When he graduated from the University of Missouri, he had a wrestling record of 153 wins and 8 losses.
- Both in 2006 and in 2007, he won the Dan Hodge Trophy and the Schalles Award.
- Representing the U.S. at the 2008 Summer Olympics, he defeated Hungary’s István Veréb in the first round before losing to Cuba’s Iván Fundora in the quarterfinals.
- He finished ninth at the 2009 Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) Amateur Disc Golf World Championships, which was held in Kansas City, Missouri, USA from July 27, 2009 to August 1, 2009.
- In 2010, he and Amy got married.
- At the 2010 Cerro Pelado International, he defeated Fundora in the semifinals.
- On November 18, 2019, he officially announced his retirement from MMA.
- In 2020, he underwent a hip surgery.
- In April 17, 2021, he lost to Jake Paul via technical knockout in a boxing match in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
- On October 25, 2022, Permuted Press released his memoir “Funky: My Defiant Path Through The World of Combat Sports”.
- On July 18, 2023, he turned 39.
TIMELINE
2009
- On February 7, 2009, he made his professional MMA debut at “Headhunter Productions: The Patriot Act” in Columbia, Missouri where he defeated Josh Flowers via technical knockout.
- On April 25, 2009, he submitted Mitchell Harris at “Headhunter Productions: The Patriot Act 2” in Columbia.
- On August 28, 2009, he submitted Matt Delanoitat “Max Fights DM: Ballroom Brawl” in Des Moines, Iowa, USA.
2010
- On April 15, 2010, he made his Bellator MMA debut in the Bellator Season 2 Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinals at “Bellator 14” in Chicago, Illinois, USA where he defeated Ryan Thomas via technical submission.
- On May 20, 2010, he defeated Thomas via unanimous decision in the Bellator Season 2 Welterweight Tournament Semifinals at “Bellator 19” in Grand Prairie, Texas, USA.
- On June 17, 2010, he won the Bellator Season 2 Welterweight Tournament by defeated Dan Hornbuckle at “Bellator 22” in Kansas City, Missouri.
- On October 21, 2010, he became the new Bellator Welterweight Champion by dethroning defending champion Lyman Good via unanimous decision at “Bellator 22” in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
2011
- On April 9, 2011, he defeated Nick Thompson via unanimous decision in a non-title bot at “Bellator 40” in Newkirk, Oklahoma, USA.
- On October 29, 2011, he successfully defended the Bellator Welterweight Championship title by defeating Jay Hieron via split decision at “Bellator 56” in Kansas City, Kansas, USA.
2012
- On April 6, 2012, he successfully defended the Bellator Welterweight Championship title by defeating Douglas Lima via unanimous decision at “Bellator 64” in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
2013
- On January 24, 2013, he successfully defended the Bellator Welterweight Championship title by defeating Karl Amoussou via technical knockout at “Bellator 86” in Thackerville, Oklahoma.
- On July 31, 2013, he successfully defended the Bellator Welterweight Championship title by defeating Andrey Koreshkov via technical knockout at “Bellator 97” in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, USA.
- On November 14, 2013, he vacated the Bellator Welterweight Championship title and moved from Bellator MMA to ONE Championship.
2014
- On May 30, 2014, he submitted Bakhtiyar Abbasov at “ONE: Honor and Glory” in Kallang, Singapore.
- On August 29, 2014, he became the new ONE Welterweight World Champion by dethroning defending champion Nobutatsu Suzuki at “ONE: Reign of Champions” in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
2015
- On April 24, 2015, he retained the ONE Welterweight World Championship title after his bout against Luis Sapo at “ONE: Valor of Champions” in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines ended in a No Contest due to accidental eye poke.
2016
- On April 15, 2016, he defeated Nikolay Aleksakhin via unanimous decision in a non-title bout at “ONE: Global Rivals” in Pasay City.
2017
- On May 26, 2017, he successfully defended the ONE Welterweight World Championship title by submitting Agilan Thani at “ONE: Dynasty of Heroes” in Kallang.
- On September 2, 2017, he successfully defended the ONE Welterweight World Championship title by defeating Zebaztian Kadestam via technical knockout at “ONE Championship: Shanghai” in Shanghai, China.
- On November 24, 2017, he successfully defended the ONE Welterweight World Championship title by defeating Shinya Aoki via technical knockout at “ONE: Immortal Pursuit” in Kallang.
2018
- On November 3, 2018, it was announced that the UFC had signed him while ONE Championship had signed Demetrious Johnson.
2019
- On March 2, 2019, he made his UFC debut at “UFC 235” in Paradise, Nevada, USA where he defeated Robbie Lawler via technical submission.
- On July 6, 2019, he was knocked out by Jorge Masvidal at “UFC 239” in Paradise.
- On October 26, 2019, he lost to Demian Maia via technical submission at “UFC Fight Night 162” in Kallang.
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