How Ben Askren went out as a prizefighter should

We'll never know whether Ben Askren was as good as he says he was.

As he admitted following a 57-second trouncing of Shinya Aoki in his swan song at this past Friday's ONE Championship event in Singapore, placing him in MMA's welterweight pecking order is a burdensome, head-scratching charge, but that hasn't deterred Askren from anointing himself the best 170-pound fighter in the world "since about 2012."

Much like the Fedor Emelianenkos and Igor Vovchanchyns of the world, any discussions pertaining to Askren's legacy will always be tarnished with pointed reminders he never once competed in the UFC - although not for a lack of trying. But for all the verbal tug-of-war on whether he could've beaten Georges St-Pierre in his prime or dominated the UFC's best as he did 17 men en route to a pair of world titles and a spotless record, Askren's eight-year career is one most prizefighters would be downright batty to belittle.

Unless you're Justin Gaethje or Forrest Griffin, or just too willing to throw down for your own good, the name of a fighter's game should be to hit and not get hit - our undeniable thirst for blood and carnage aside. No man to have worn four-ounce gloves personified the age-old mandate better than Askren.

Thanks to a wrestling base that earned him a pair of NCAA D-I national titles at the University of Missouri and a trip to Beijing for the 2008 summer Olympics, the 33-year-old fought through minimal adversity in 18 walks to the cage - a five-round tilt with UFC alum Jay Hieron the only outlier - and built lengthy stints as a welterweight titlist in both Bellator and ONE.

Despite ragdolling his foes with regularity in Bellator and defending its crown four times, Askren's exploits were met with a lukewarm response from promotional head Bjorn Rebney, who'd repeatedly made a point to label him "one-dimensional" over a series of backhanded compliments before ultimately granting him his release in late 2013.

And while UFC president Dana White and Co. never made Askren an offer to prove his mettle beyond deniability - thereby making a mortal enemy of him - the current state of Bellator's lauded welterweight division has done it for him. Its last two champions, Douglas Lima and Andrey Koreshkov, were treated to Askren's wrath over a combined nine rounds at Bellator 64 and 97, respectively, while Lyman Good - the man he beat in a one-sided decision to win the crown in 2010 - now calls the UFC home.

After seeing his designs of challenging then-UFC welterweight king GSP go up in smoke, the longtime Roufusport member took his talents across the Pacific to ONE not a month after parting ways with the much-maligned Rebney, and although with the move came a step down in competition, it was under the fledgling Asian outfit's banner that he could bring an exit strategy he'd drafted years prior to fruition.

Much like in his Bellator stint, Askren outclassed any and all takers during his reign as ONE champ, and, to hear him tell it, was making a nice chunk of cabbage in the process. Only the man long condemned for a purported lack of killer instinct was now putting his foes away within the distance for a promotion in need of an established star while it worked to put its stamp on an entire continent.

Now more than three years and as many title defenses removed from his maiden voyage to the ONE cage, Askren can hang up his gloves with a bevy of luxuries that remain foreign to many who've plied their trade in the hurt business. Sure, he never got to cement himself as the world's preeminent welterweight at GSP's expense - an opportunity he hasn't given up on - and a final victory over a brittle career lightweight in Aoki did little to bolster his legacy. But contrary to many MMA luminaries, not only does he go out undefeated, he retires in the culmination of a third act he'd penned for himself - not in response to a battered body's mutiny.

His brain intact and his coffers lined with more scratch than the UFC was willing to pony up, Askren follows nearly a decade of dominance in the cage with a pair of fulfilling endeavors. The ONE brass has rewarded him for the integral role he played in building the company with a gig as an executive, one he'll juggle with grooming future wrestling champions at his trio of academies in his home state.

Simply put, he got paid, didn't get hit or handed an L, and can enjoy life after fighting without fielding any calls to donate his noggin to science. There's not much more a prizefighter can ask for.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)