In an interview with PureFight.org, Ben Askren indicated that he is going to focus solely on MMA for the time being. He credits his success in MMA and the rule differences between folkstyle and freestyle wrestling as the reasons for the change. Shockingly enough, he says that he would not have even competed in the 2010 World Championships if he won a spot on the team.
Prior to coming to MMA, Askren put together an extremely successful career at the University of Missouri. He won two NCAA titles and scored the third most falls of the time. After college, he continued to wrestle and earned a spot on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, but he failed to medal.
This year he said that he wanted to compete in both MMA and freestyle wrestling. He won the Dave Schultz tournament and finished second at the Cerro Pelado tournament. Last Thursday, he defeated Dan Hornbuckle to win Bellator’s second season welterweight tournament and a shot at champion Lyman Good.