Ben Askren will only come out of retirement for one more UFC fight; the rematch with long-time rival Jorge Masvidal.
The wrestling legend was undefeated at 19-0 when he was matched with Masvidal in a bout that was to set him up for a shot at the welterweight world title back in July of 2019. He was the favourite heading into the bout due to his impressive amateur wrestling pedigree and previous victories over major names in the sport, but lost to a humiliating six-second flying knee KO.
At one point, there was a sizeable portion of the MMA world who felt that Askren was the best welterweight in the world, particularly heading into his meeting with Masvidal. Unfortunately, the loss cost him a career's worth of momentum and after one more losing effort against Demian Maia he was done with the sport.
But asked by a fan on Twitter today how he feels the rematch with Masvidal would go if the UFC were willing to make it, Askren responded: "It’s the only thing that I would come out of retirement for."
Askren had already all but retired from the sport before being offered an unprecedented trade deal to switch from ONE Championship, where he was welterweight champion, tom the UFC. Demetrius Johnson, the generational flyweight talent and former world champion, would go the other way in a deal that history has deemed favourable for the Asian promotion.
He started his tenure with a controversial submission victory over former world champion Robbie Lawlor in a disastrous showing where he was almost stopped early. Afterwards, he moved on to Masvidal, which saw his star fade within a six second loss, despite being favoured going into the fight.
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Askren's poor striking was truly put on display when he faced jiu-jitsu master Demian Maia in what would be his final fight, ultimately losing a submission and quitting the sport. He attempted a comeback in boxing last year where he was viciously knocked out within a round by Jake Paul.
The former Olympian shared a bitter feud with Masvidal heading into the fight, which he has reignited in recent days by questioning how the No.9 welterweight could possibly get a title shot against Leon Edwards. The Brit is the newly-crowned champion, and has a rivalry of his own with Masvidal which never culminated in a fight, but now their respective positions have switched.
Been off the grid camping," Askren wrote in a cheeky tweet. "Why is not getting a title shot off three losses in a row a controversial opinion?" He followed that up with two more, saying " Also I would rather be a has been than a never was," and “Lastly you can’t avoid someone for 3 years then try to pick a fight once they get a belt.”
