8 UFC Careers That Ended In The Worst Way Possible
4. Ben Askren Fails To Live Up To The Hype
Make no mistake, Ben Askren is among the most talented grapplers in MMA history, and the fanfare that surrounded his signing with the UFC in 2018 in an unprecedented swap deal was entirely warranted, but the American's three Octagon appearances in the following year could barely have gone any worse.
The Olympian was one of the final representations of the early days of MMA when being extremely proficient in just one facet of the sport was enough to see a fighter reach the top levels of the sport. Against the murderers row he would face in the UFC though, that just wouldn't be good enough.
Askren's UFC tenure started well enough, managing to survive an early beating to secure a contentious submission over Robbie Lawler. However, everything would go downhill from that point, including a record-breaking knockout loss to Jorge Masvidal at UFC 239.
In his final visit to the cage, Askren would be beaten at his own game, out grappled and choked unconscious by submission expert Demian Maia in October before announcing his retirement from the sport.