Ben Askren offers valuable financial advice to young MMA fighters
Ben Askren's run in the UFC lasted for three fights in 2019 - of which he lost two and won his first controversially. It certainly didn't help all the hype he had when coming in, but perhaps age and various other issues played a factor in his UFC run.
Either way, the positive that's come out of it was that his stock had still risen and he made seven figures at the end of the day when putting everything together. Speaking to MMA Fighting, Ben Askren described how he mapped out a window and a financial plan to secure himself for the future after his career in MMA.
Fighter pay has been a big topic of discussion of late and the fact that elite-level fighters are complaining about it indicates that UFC doesn't pay lower-level fighters nearly enough. Ben Askren encouraged investments and alternate businesses to keep things running:
“Give yourself a runway and have other things that you’re doing,” Askren added. “That’s kind of how they have to think about it. Yeah, I made probably close to $1 million last year when you include everything. I’m not going to make that any time soon but I feel like I made the right investments and I saved enough of it to where I have a runway where I’m making a pretty good living and I’m going to continue developing my businesses and grow other things I’m doing as well.
Ben Askren stated that even if you have money, you need to do something in order to prevent boredom:
“Not just investments but find other skills. Because even if you have enough money, you’ve got to do something or you’re going to be bored as sh*t. Literally find another job, find a skill, find a hobby, find something you’re passionate about and use your notoriety that you have while you’re fighting to develop that business or that hobby or whatever it is.”
Ben Askren concluded by encouraging fighters to hire people with their best financial interests in mind. He gave examples of Jon Jones and Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone having tax liens on them:
“I would say just hire people who actually have your best financial interest in mind. That’s kind of hard to find sometimes. Obviously, I think you have to have a basic amount of information yourself so you don’t get taken advantage of.”
Ben Askren's future
Ben Askren hasn't explicitly stated what the future holds for him. Many believe that he will make the perfect UFC commentator or analyst. Until then, he's likely to be busy with other businesses he has and trying to keep himself active.