UFC News: Ben Askren opens up on life after retirement
While many fighters come out of retirement for one last hurrah, former Olympian Ben Askren is definitely not one of them. Askren recently announced his retirement from mixed martial arts citing a hip replacement surgery. The former welterweight champion at ONE Championship finished with a professional record of 19-2.
In retrospect, while his stint with the UFC could have been better, Askren doesn't regret how it all went down. Speaking to MMA Fighting, Askren said that he is proud of whatever he has achieved in his career. (h/t MMA Fighting)
“I’m not playing the what if game any time. I hate the what if game. You sound like a dick whenever you play that. I was a champion for two major organizations. I beat a lot of really good guys. That’s probably where I would leave it.”
Askren also opened up on how his hip injury led him to take the decision to step out of the fight game after his recent loss against MMA veteran Demian Maia.
"I had already retired once and then I had the plan with my doctor to do the scope after the fight. Then he said you need the hip resurfacing and that was kind of like I don’t want to keep training like I am because it’s not that fun. It kind of sucked. I don’t want to say give me 15 months while I do my hip surgery and I’ll come back. There’s a better option to get on with my life.”
Although he was initially supposed to get a hip replacement surgery, it turns out that Askren is undergoing a hip resurfacing procedure that will allow him to get back to full fitness.
“Just to be specific, it’s a hip resurfacing, not a full, total hip replacement. The surgery’s called the Birmingham Hip, that’s the surgery that I’m doing. So I might actually try to put it off for a few more months if I can because it would be a little better timing for my life for it to get done."
Askren is also a wrestling coach and he intends to continue working with UFC flyweight Maycee Barber. He insisted that there are a lot of things keeping him busy at the moment.
“I will not be coaching MMA. As far as Maycee’s case, I didn’t ever think I was going to be coaching fighting. I didn’t think that was in the cards. They talked me into it so I am. She’s a lot of fun to work with but I don’t really foresee that too much in the future."
“I have more than enough to keep me busy. I don’t have enough time to do all the things I want to do. I’m figuring out how to prioritize.”