Ben Askren announces retirement from MMA following UFC Singapore loss to Demian Maia

UFC welterweight Ben Askren has announced his retirement from MMA, over three weeks after his submission loss to Demian Maia at UFC Singapore.

Askren signed a deal with UFC earlier this year that saw him fight three times – first against Robbie Lawler, before taking on Jorge Masvidal and Maia.

He beat Lawler via submission in his debut fight but was knocked out by Jorge Masvidal in just five seconds at UFC 239 in the summer.

And at the end of October, Askren lost to 42-year-old Maia after the Brazilian locked him in a rear-naked choke in the main event of the card in Singapore.

After the fight, Askren teased the notion of retirement while on Ariel Helwani’s MMA show, but just weeks later, the NCAA wrestling champion has confirmed he will be hanging up his gloves.

“I’m retiring from the sport of mixed martial arts. Frankly, I am retiring from everything,” he said on Helwani’s show. 

“I was thinking about it since we last talked, I was considering it, but, I am having hip problems and I finally had the discussion with my doctor and I got an MRI from my last fight; I need a hip replacement

“So that’s it for me. I’ve been thinking about this for a week, kind of what I was going to say.

“I’m filled with gratitude for what great of career I have been able to have even though obviously in the end it did not turn out my way.

“And I want to say this up front. Obviously I’ve known these hip issues for a while and I never brought them up for a reason, because I don’t want people to think I’m using this as a reason why I lost.

“I lost because I wasn’t good enough. Plain and simple. My opponents beat me and they were better than me. I want that said out there.

“These hip issues for me are totally separate. I lost because I wasn’t good enough. These obviously seems like excuses, but I do not want them viewed in that light.”

Before he joined the UFC, Askren fought for Bellator and ONE Championship where he had amassed his previously unbeaten record.

He finishes his career with a record of 19-2-1, having won multiple welterweight world championships as an MMA fighter. 

source: express.co.uk