MMA Fighting - Ben Askren Retires From MMA Reaction | The A-Side Live Chat

Episode Date: November 18, 2019

Ben Askren has decided to retire after a career that saw him win Bellator and ONE titles. MMA Fighting’s Jose Youngs and Alexander K. Lee break down his legacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Support for this show comes from the Audible Original, the downloaded two, ghosts in the machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudulian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the Audible Original Blockbuster. The Downloaded, it's a thought-provoking sci-by journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, What are you willing to lose to save the ones you love?

The Downloaded 2. Ghosts in the Machine. Available now, only from Audible. Support for this show comes from the Audible original, The Downloaded 2. Ghosts in the Machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudullian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever.

Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the audible original blockbuster, the downloaded. It's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, what are you willing to lose to save the ones you love?

The downloaded two, ghosts in the machine. Available now, only from Audible. What is up, everyone? Jose Young's here with MMAfighting.com for the impromptu episode of the A-side live chat. Sitting next to me is Alex K.

Alex, my brother from the north in Toronto. Now, Alex, this is a very last-minute episode. Like I said, I called you very last-minute because we got some very last minute breaking news. And that is Ben Ascran has announced his retirement for mixed martial arts. He was on Aeroa on his show over on ESPN, and he officially hung up his four-ounce gloves. So I will put you on the spot.

What is your immediate reaction after hearing the news? What are you expecting from one Mr. Ben Asking going forward? Well, based on the comments he made and his results in the UFC so far, I would say unsurprised, unsurprised, the time is probably right. If anything, I respect that he's probably, that he's leaving when there's probably still money to be made. And I actually, even though we're talking hashtag MMA retirements, I actually think this is one that will stick. Again, for anyone who missed the, the Hohani show announcement, he's, I believe he needs a hip replacement. That's probably it for you as a high level MMA fighter. You know, and he's 35 years old.

He's been involved in some form of combat sports since he was very, very young. So there's so much wear and terror in his body. So, yeah, unsurprising, and I would also call it a welcome retirement. And I say that with respect to Ben Ascran. Yeah, for anyone who's followed Ben Ascran's career, watched any interviews lately, he's made it known that mixed martial arts never is one true love. He really loves the world of, like, amateur wrestling, collegial wrestling, and he coaches a lot.

He coaches kids. He coaches fighters. He coaches Tyron Woodley. He coaches Macy Barber. He wasn't there for her last fight, but she made sure to give him a shout out. But Ben Ascran retires with a record, I believe, of 18 and 2. If I'm not, or 19 and 2. His last two losses were the only two losses he ever had.

He lost to Jorge Mazvedov, which everyone has heard or seen now, especially on Instagram in five seconds, fastest knockout in UFC history. And then he gets submitted by Damien Maya. So getting knocked out by Jorge Mazvold and getting submitted by Damian Maya, nothing to hang your head down. I mean, Damien Maia is arguably the greatest grappler in UFC history. he might as well is the hottest fighter on the roster right now. But bearing those two losses aside,

what is going to be your lasting memory from Ben Ascreen, either inside the octagon, outside the octagon, any of the other plethora of promotions he's fought under? Man, this is a guy for, I mean, for the most part, did things his way. And you just got to respect that. I know it's a cliche, but you certainly can't say it about every fighter. And I would say it about Ben Asker and he's an original.

I'm not the biggest collegiate wrestling fan, but I know, look, he was nicknamed funky because his style was an orthodox. So from his earliest super successful NCAA championship days, he's had people kind of questioning how he goes about things. So he answered those questions in college, and then he gets into MMA, and yes, he's very one-dimensional, but super successful right at the gate.

Beltor picks him up. He becomes a champion. He beats names like Douglas Lima, Andre Korskov. People can say, oh, this was before they became, before their primes, say what you want. We won't know because they never had a rematch. Those are wins on Ben Ascran's record. He did it his way, you know, and instead of going to the UFC after, he went to one championship.

There's the spat with Dana White. Dana White very publicly saying like, oh, I'd rather watch grass grow. I think it was in reference to Ben Ascreen. Some Dana Whitey thing like that really, really questioning whether Ascreen was entertaining enough to be in the UFC. So Ascran went, did his thing, fought in one. And then he made his way to the UFC anyway. And in this last year, made plenty of headlines, drew plenty of eyeballs, and in pro wrestling parlons, put over some people major, especially Jorge Mosvadole. I mean, the Jorge Mosvidal thing doesn't happen without this Ascran feud and Ascran running into his knee.

Yeah. I mean, people have been saying, like, ever since he lost Damiena and the U.S.C. Singapore main event, they've really been – because remember, Ben Ascran was traded for Demetrius Johnson. I think that's going to be one of his lasting legacies, too. he was part of the first real trade between promotions. Demetrius Johnson left the UFC in exchange for Ben Ascrum. Ben Ascrum said he wanted to test himself against the best. In my mind, what stands out the most is not his inside the cage or octagon, but it's when he said, like, I might not be the best.

Like, I'm not going to, I might not retire and defeated, but I at least want to try. I want to compete against the best. So he never walked around declaring himself, like, I am the greatest, I am the greatest, I am the greatest. He wanted to try. And he came to the UFC, didn't work out. and he lost to Horie Mazvedal in five seconds, handled his loss better than most fighters would a decision loss.

I mean, he tweeted right away. He's like, well, that didn't go as planned. And then I think Heather Hardy tweeted, like, everyone needs to stop picking on Ben Asker and this and that. Ben Ascran's like, I deserve it. Don't worry about it. So the way Ben Ascran handles defeat, I think a lot of young fighters can really take from.

I mean, he said, like, I don't want to be like Ronda Rousey. It happens. The only thing we learned in that fight, fight is Horri Maizval has a great knee and I'm not invincible. I can't, like, that right there just shows you a kind of a fighter, Ben Asking. He's like, he loses to the best and he owns up to it, loses to Damien Maya. And in his interview backstage on ESPN, he goes, I just lost to the greatest submission artist, arguably in the history of mixed martial arts.

So handles his losses very well, was very dominant. I think people forget, like, he suddenly said like a record against Andreas Korsakov, where he outstruck him like 200-something to like five in that fight. He finished him. And he finished him. He beat Douglas Lima, who is either one A1 beat for Patriso Pitbull for greatest fighter in Bellator history. Has the win over against Shinne Aoki.

Has a W over Robbie Lawler. Say what you want about that and fight. A W is a W. And then he just loses the two guys and calls it a career. So I wish fighters, I wish fans that really started to watch MMA in the last few years, like when the Ronda's and the Conners and everyone's rows. I wish they got to see him in his prime when he was tearing. not even tearing through people, just like, dominating.

Like, if you can't get a grown man off top of you, you shouldn't be champion. That's my mentality anyway. But, uh, yeah, go ahead. I don't want to romanticize his style too much. Let's not, I'm not going to pretend that, you know, pre-UFC Ben Ashkron was like this, this shogun-esque berserker. He was not. He was not. He was winning fights.

I, I'm glad we did this because I did want to bring up one personal anecdote. I was at, I was in a glamorous Windsor. Ontario when he fought Douglas Lima. Wow. Great crowd. Yes, great crowd. The card, unfortunately, was not very good. And it was capped off by this Ascran fight where, look, he held Lima down and it's not Ascran's fault. Lima couldn't get up. The crowd became so aggravated. I believe there was during this 25-minute fight, there was two fights in the crowd. So, you know, and those were maybe the most entertaining fights tonight. So regardless, Ascran gets a reaction out of people.

Sometimes it wasn't good. Sometimes his style, it literally incited violence in those watching. But again, we can't discount that he was a winner at the end of the day. And then regardless of his style, managed to be an entertaining personality outside of the cage. And that goes a long way. Chilsonan can tell you that. Chilsonan, you know, he had exciting fights later, but was known as very much a grindy wrestler. George St. Pierre, one of the most famous fighters of all time.

A lot of critics of his style, but certainly a popular guy. So Ascreen is somewhere in that lineage, that entertaining wrestler lineage. And certainly the sport is a little bit worse off for his personality not being around. I mean, his fights, you saw them yourself. When I was there on site for UFC 239 for his fight against Jorge Mazur doll,

if you look at the numbers, like John Jones is in the main event, Amanda Nunes is in the co-min event, Holly Holm is there, Luke Rockhold, young Edmund Shabezing was on that card. Who do you think did the most numbers in terms of traffic and YouTube views?

Mr. Funky. Mr. Funky, Ben Asgren, had a Walmart sponsorship during that fight too. So it just goes to show you that people, when he spoke, people listened. I remember vividly that first press conference

where they introduced him to the UFC before he was fighting against Robbie Lawler. He was all up on stage with all the fighters. And he was going at everyone. Like he was talking to Kevin Lee, who was coming out from Welterweight. He's talking to Kamar Usman.

He's calling out Colby Covington. He's calling out everybody. And then he goes and he quote unquote submits Robbie Lawler. I don't, like a win is a win, like I said. Robbie Lawler, handled his loss well too. And then flies immediately, he goes, I'm going to beat Robbie Lawler, and I'm going to fight the winner of Darren Till, Horri Maizal,

and then I'm going to fight for the championship. This is a guy that when he said it normally came true. He didn't end up beating Horamazzoal, but you have to assume if he had, he most certainly would have been fighting for a title right away, I think, especially if he had dominated Horamazidahl like that. But if that fight doesn't happen, we don't get a BMF championship of the world. We don't see, we don't get Horri Mazel being the biggest star in the, in the UFC right now.

So, yes, in terms of wins and losses, one championship clearly came out the better in that trade. Again, I think you said it perfectly. Without Ben Ascran, there is no, what, the last 15 months, 12 months of the UFC has been wildly exciting. I think Ben Ascreen had a lot to do with that. Yeah, look, you need the Ben Ascrings of the world causing him to either become stars or to build other stars.

And I'm not saying the UFC has a control over which one happens, whether the fighter they signed becomes star or they build another star. But in this case, it's certainly worked out in building another star. And I've joked online about, you know, how bad the trade looks. But it's true. UFC got everything, pretty much everything they wanted out of it. I guarantee they have pretty much zero regrets about making that trade. So, you know, everyone should be happy. And I hope that Ben Ascran finds happiness, you know, in whatever moving on to wrestling, coaching and just being done with.

this nasty business of fighting. And I will say, everyone's going to question, like, was he a good fighter? Was he a great fighter? Was he a world beater? Like, he was an excellent prize fighter. And that's what this game is about, is getting people to watch you fight. And that is exactly what Ben Ascreen did. Just like Chale Sondon, that was the whole argument.

Chale Sondon was a good, not great fighter. Chale Sondon is a phenomenal prize fighter. Ben Ascran is a phenomenal prize fighter. They're like, yes, they might lose to people, but you're still watching that those fights happen. And you want, you paying to watch them lose or you want to see them win. Regardless, everyone paid attention to Ben Asking. And I really think the world of mixed martial arts is going to miss him. I mean, I was backstage at USC Milwaukee, which is the last ever Fox card.

And he was the guest fighter. And I was speaking to some of the UFC. I'm like, what's it like been working with Ben after like he's a new fighter and he's already doing guest fighter spots? And they're all like, he's great. He'll do any interview. He'll do it for 10, 15 minutes. And then we were doing the scrum, which you've done a million of them, guest fighter scrums. It's going like 16 minutes.

And then the U.CPR goes, all right, bad enough. He goes, I was having fun, guys. Come on. So it's like he wants to do that. Like, how often do you get fighters that want to do media? You rarely get that any days. I mean, you see Robbie Lawley. He's like, I don't want to be here.

Like fighters, like Nate Diaz and Horny Mazel show up 40 minutes late to media day. Ben Ashter not only wants to do it, he'll talk to anybody. And he'll talk to everybody. So as a medium fan, as a media member, I'm going to miss Ben Askman. Yeah, for sure. Like I said, from our perspective, definitely an asset from the UFC's perspective and asset. And I think history, when people look back on his career, when we're out of this moment of, oh, he got knocked down in five seconds. He got submitted by Maya.

I think history will look very favorably on what Ben Askman accomplished as a fighter. And he's not going anywhere. He still coaches Tyne Woodley. I'm sure he still coaches the Pettis Brothers. He coaches Macy Barber now. He coaches a lot of those guys up at Rufusport. So for his lasting legacy, I think we, I wish we had seen him fight the George St. Pierre's, the Rory McDonald's of the world, the guys that he really wanted to fight at that time. I mean, I remember when Carlos Condit was fighting George St. Pierre, Ben Ashman was like, I'll fight the winner tomorrow.

So like, I wish we had got to see Ben Asking versus George St. Pierre. Obviously, I would favor George St. Pierre very heavily. But there's always that question out there that Ben Ashton called him out for so long and we never got that fight. But finally, the fact that, sorry, Jose, the fact that you even talking about. about it tells you what a persona this guy created for himself before coming to the UFC with no with no not being at the number one spot you know he he built that that reputation as hey what would happen if he fought George St. Pierre that they were even asking as a credit to his promo abilities well I was gonna ask you what your lasting

legacy is but I'll go first my lasting legacy in my mind is that Ben Askin made he was made an aim for himself outside of the UFC they say Dana White goes go to one like world series of fighting he said forget that I'll just go to one championship make more money. So he is one of those rare fighters that had a following before he even got to the quote unquote big leagues as fans called the UFC. Belator won championship. He comes over and is immediately inserted into the into like not an immediate title shop, but like in the top 10 range. And everyone wants to see Ben Asker and talk or fight. And he hasn't even stepped inside the Octagon yet. So it's, I can't think of many other fighters. Maybe if like I said, one of the Pitbull brothers or Douglas

Slema or like if MVP forever comes over to the UFC or anyone other from one championship. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of the, like there's a lot of those fighters that if they do, we'll have the same thing. But Ben Ascreen captivated audiences with his words. And then that he brought those fans into the Octagon. That is what I'm going to remember most about Ascran. Alex, what is your lasting legacy for Ben Aspen? I mean, you pretty much summed it up.

You're making some great points. I don't know if it's the crystals, this new crystals thing, which I'm against. But you seem more lucid. focus the never it's very impressive and i'll just add you know i hope i hope uh other fighters can sort of learn some stuff from from ben ascgren and um again like how he built himself up it really isn't about your style in the cage like we've said many times he was not the most exciting guy in the cage you could probably count like if you took his top five fights i mean they they don't stack up to a lot of other people's top five most exciting fights that's just a fact but there's a lot

to learn from how he did what he did and it's not easy you know not everyone has his personality his background his maybe some of the leverage he might have had that that some fighters don't but there's definitely things to be learned and I hope the next generation of fighters kind of look at how he built himself up and you know just take some things here and there and and uh it's not about being fake but it is about having your own persona and and trusting in it and and it can take you a long way well said Alex and for for Alex this this is Jose this has been a very last minute impromptu quick episode of the A-side live chat stick around on the YouTube page and this and that. We'll be back with an actual live full length hour episode of the A Side Live

channel Wednesday. I'm not going to tell you the guest is yet. This will be up on like Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, all that fun stuff. But for Alex, this is Jose. We're out.