Ben Askren (photo via UFC / YouTube)

By FCF Staff

After taking a second straight loss at UFC Singapore this past weekend, Ben Askren is reporting that he’s thinking about retiring.

The former ONE and Bellator welterweight champ faced Demian Maia in the card’s main event, and Askren was choked out by a third round, rear-naked-choke. The defeat followed Askren’s vicious, knockout loss to Jorge Masvidal this past July.

Askren appeared on Ariel Helwani’s ESPN program on Monday, and the 35-year-old had this to say, while discussing his future (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“I mean retirement is definitely something I’m considering,” Askren said. “I would be lying to you if I said I was not. It’s a time-cost analysis. I have a lot of things I want to do in my life. I’m a really busy guy. I have a lot of things I‘m passionate about and love. Not training specifically but to and from setting stuff up, I spend 30 hours a week on MMA related stuff and ‘Can I place my time better somewhere else?’ is definitely a thought process that crosses my mind.”

“That being said, two more things, if I may. All I wanted was an opportunity. That’s all I ever said I wanted. And I got my opportunity so it would be hard to be bitter or disgruntled in any way because I had the opportunity I wanted. I have not been able to execute on that opportunity and that’s on me. So that is kind of one thought process and the other thought process is, part of me wants to fight more. Like I said, I thought I was doing really well in the Demian Maia fight…

Following Askren’s win over Shinya Aoki at ONE’s “Immortal Pursuit” in 2017, the decorated wrestler decided to retire. But, he left the door open to a comeback if he could secure fights with top tier welterweights.

In 2018, the UFC and ONE Championship reached a deal in which Demetrious Johnson and Askren traded spots on the promotion’s respective rosters.