LAS VEGAS – Ben Askren doesn’t recommend MMA as a career.
Askren, a former ONE Championship and Bellator champion and UFC fighter, told MMA Junkie Radio that he usually warns wrestlers he coaches to stay away from the cage because there’s little money to be made, even when you’re successful in the sport.
“I usually advocate against MMA. It is a sh*tty career,” Askren said. “I say out of the many thousands of people across America that want to do MMA, man, if you make it to the UFC, OK this is what I talk them through when they’re not that skilled: Make it to the UFC, which that’s hard, right? You’re going to have to do a bunch of amateur fights, then a bunch of low-level pro fights. Someone is going to have to see you, you’re going to have to not get injured, all these good things are going to have to happen to you. So you make it to the UFC, and you’re on a baseline contract, and (if) you win all three fights your first year, you’ll probably make $80,000.
