Ben Askren

Ben Askren is an American former professional mixed martial artist. He was also an amateur wrestler and a professional boxer.

Askren is noted for being a former One Welterweight Champion and Bellator champion. He also played for the UFC.

He is also a grappler and a part of the 2008 US Olympic Team.

Ben had a great college career. He played for the Missouri Tigers and he was a two-time NCAA Division I national champion. He was also a two-time Big 12 Conference champion.

About

Askren was born Benjamin Michael Askren on July 18, 1984. He stands 5 feet 10 inches tall or 178 cm. He plays in the welterweight division but he has also played middleweight. He has an impressive reach of 183 cm or 72 inches.

Ben started playing the sport as a six-year-old when he was introduced to it by his dad, Chuck. He began to take the sport seriously when he began sixth grade and during high school.

High School Career

While attending the Arrowhead High School, Askren became the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Champion twice. He also made it to the podium of several US National Tournaments for Folkstyle, Greco-Roman, and Freestyle Wrestling.

University of Missouri Athletics Hall of Fame

He attended the University of Missouri where he played for the Missouri Tigers. He was teammates with future UFC champion Tyron Woodley and Bellator champion Michael Chandler.

As a freshman and a sophomore, Ben placed second in the Big 12 and NCAA championships. He lost the championship matches to Chris Pendleton who was playing for Oklahoma State.

In his junior and senior years, Askren won the Dan Hodge Trophy multiple times. He had an 87-0 record and he managed to take down several other NCAA champions such as Keith Gavin and Jake Herbert.

By the time he graduated, he had a record of 153-8.

In 2012, it was announced that the University of Missouri would be inducting Askren into their Athletics Hall of Fame.

Fighting Style

Askren is known for his unorthodox fighting style that gained him the nickname, “Funky”. He also has an uncommon body style for a wrestler that helped him gain the upper hand when it came to pinning an opponent down.

He started with Folkstyle techniques but quickly adapted to freestyle wrestling.

2008 Summer Olympics

After he won the 2007 US National Championship, Askren made it to the US Olympic team for the 2008 games.

He made it to the quarterfinals before he was eventually defeated by Ivan Fundora from Hungary. Askren went away without a medal for the 2008 Olympics.

Post Olympics, he would go on to defeat Fundora when the two met at the Cerro Pelado International in Cuba in 2010.