Ben Askren Net Worth | Celebrity Net Worth

What is Ben Askren’s Net Worth?

Ben Askren is a former professional mixed martial artist and wrestler who has a net worth of $1 million. Ben Askren was the Bellator and ONE Welterweight Champion for many years. He was also a national champion in freestyle wrestling and a world champion in submission wrestling. Askren finished his MMA career in the UFC, retiring in late 2019 following his first two career losses.

After lengthy back-and-forth taunting of social media, Ben eventually agreed to fight YouTube personality Jake Paul in a boxing match on April 17, 2021. Askren was guaranteed a minimum of $500,000 just to show up to the fight. With Pay Per View bonuses and other revenue, his ultimately full payout could be in the low $1 million range.

Early Life and High School

Ben Askren was born on July 18, 1984 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Although he was introduced to wrestling by his father when he was six years old, he only began taking the sport seriously in middle school. Later, at Arrowhead High School in Wisconsin, Askren became a two-time WIAA state champion. He also placed at multiple United States national tournaments in folkstyle, freestyle, and Greco-Roman wrestling.

Collegiate Career

For college, Askren went to the University of Missouri, where he wrestled for the Missouri Tigers. In his freshman year, he won gold in the Big 12 Championships and came in second in the NCAA Division I Championships. As a sophomore, Askren finished second in both the Big 12 and NCAA Championships. He had his best years as a junior and senior, when he won gold in the Big 12 and NCAA Championships and also won the Dan Hodge Trophy for both seasons. Askren graduated from Missouri with an incredible 153-8 record, making him one of the most dominant collegiate wrestlers in history.

Continued Wrestling

In April of 2007, Askren became the US national champion. The next year, he competed in the Summer Olympics, where he made it to the quarterfinals. Askren went on to compete in the Agon Wrestling Championships and the Flo Premier League.

MMA Career

Askren made his MMA debut in early 2009 in Columbia, Missouri at Headhunter Productions: The Patriot Act. In the bout, he defeated Josh Flowers via first-round TKO. Askren next defeated Mitchell Harris at Headhunter Productions: The Patriot Act 2. Later in the year, he competed in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship and the FILA World Grappling Championship, and won gold in the latter. In the spring of 2010, at Bellator 14, Askren defeated Ryan Thomas. He went on to beat Thomas again at Bellator 19. After defeating Dan Hornbuckle at Bellator 22, Askren became the Bellator Season Two Welterweight Tournament Champion. He subsequently beat Lyman Good at Bellator 33 to become the Bellator Welterweight World Champion. Askren successfully defended his title multiple times over the ensuing years, defeating such opponents as Jay Hieron, Douglas Lima, Karl Amoussou, and Andrey Koreshkov. After his victory over Koreshkov, Askren was released from Bellator and became an unrestricted free agent.

In late 2013, Askren signed a two-year contract with ONE Championship. He won his first fight with the promotion, taking out Bakhtiyar Abbasov via submission in the first round. Askren proceeded to defeat Nobutatsu Suzuki to become the new ONE Welterweight Champion. He retained his title against Luis Santos in the spring of 2015, although an accidental eye poke from Askren rendered the match a no contest. A year later, Askren defeated Nikolay Aleksakhin in a non-title bout. In 2017, he defended his ONE Welterweight Championship by beating Agilan Thani, Zebaztian Kadestam, and Shinya Aoki. Following his win over Aoki, Askren retired from MMA. He returned to the sport in late 2018 when it was announced that he had signed with the UFC. Askren went on to make his UFC debut at UFC 235 in 2019, where he defeated Robbie Lawler. His decade-long undefeated streak came to an abrupt end at UFC 239, where Jorge Masvidal knocked him out with the fastest knockout in UFC history. Askren suffered a second consecutive defeat a few months later, to Demian Maia. He subsequently announced his retirement from MMA.

Personal Life

With his wife Amy, whom he wed in 2010, Askren has three children.