Issue 187

January 2020

Ben Askren has retired for a second time, but this time it looks like the real thing

With the announcement that Ben Askren has called time on his career due to the need for a hip replacement, this month's Flashback is devoted to the night of April 6, 2012 when he successfully defended his Bellator welterweight title against this month's cover star, Douglas Lima. That unanimous decision took his career record to 10-0 and two years later, he left Bellator undefeated to achieve similar dominance with ONE Championship. His time at UFC will doubtless be remembered for his five-second KO by Jorge Masvidal at UFC 239, but Askren, now 36, and a former Olympian wrestler, can look back on a career which saw him beat some of the very best in the business and leave two fight leagues undefeated and as world champion.