Askren was a four-time NCAA All-American wrestler at the University of Missouri, where he won two national championship and was twice named the Dan Hodge Trophy winner. After representing the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, he made a seamless transition to mixed martial arts. Askren rattled off 14 consecutive victories to start his career, capturing titles in the Bellator MMA and One Championship organizations along the way. He retired with a 19-2 record on Nov. 18, 2019 following consecutive crash-and-burn losses to Jorge Masvidal and Demian Maia in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Now more than two years removed from Askren’s departure from MMA, a look at some of the numbers that accompanied him throughout his stay:
37: Years of age for Askren, who was born on July 18, 1984 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
12: Askren victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission, accounting for 63% of his career total (19). His list of victims includes Robbie Lawler, Shinya Aoki and Andrey Koreshkov. Askren owns seven other victories by decision.
6: Countries in which Askren competed as a mixed martial artist. He went 12-1 in the United States, 3-1 in Singapore, 1-0 in Canada, 1-0 in the United Arab Emirates, 1-0 with one no contest in the Philippines and 1-0 in China.
1,120: Days spent by Askren as undisputed Bellator welterweight champion. He laid claim to the company’s 170-pound belt at Bellator 33, where he took a unanimous decision from Lyman Good on Oct. 21, 2010, and kept the title under wraps until he vacated it to sign with One Championship on Nov. 13, 2013.
3: Fighters other than Askren who have held the One Championship welterweight crown. Nobutatsu Suzuki, Zebaztian Kadestam and Kiamrian Abbasov hold that distinction.
9: First-round finishes on the Askren resume. He delivered the quickest stoppage of his 22-fight career at One Championship “Immortal Pursuit” on Nov. 24, 2017, when he needed just 57 seconds to put away the aforementioned Aoki with punches.
1: No contest on the Askren resume. An inadvertent eye poke to Luis Santos at One Championship “Valor of Champions” resulted in their April 25 encounter being waved off prematurely 2:19 into the first round.
10: Calendar years in which Askren fought at least once. He went 3-0 in 2009, 4-0 in 2010, 2-0 in 2011, 1-0 in 2012, 2-0 in 2013, 2-0 in 2014, 0-0 with one no contest in 2015, 1-0 in 2016, 3-0 in 2017 and 1-2 in 2019.
38: Professional rounds completed by Askren. He went the distance on seven different occasions and compiled a perfect 7-0 record in those bouts.
.750: Cumulative winning percentage between the eight men—Good, Koreshkov, Ryan Thomas (twice), Dan Hornbuckle, Nick Thompson, Jay Hieron, Douglas Lima and Karl Amoussou—Askren defeated during his perfect nine-fight run in Bellator. They boast a combined record of 210-67-3.