Askren wins MMA debut

After taking two punches, Askren quickly dominated his first opponent.

By Nick Forrester

Published Feb. 9, 2009

Ben Askren dominated throughout his wrestling career at Missouri. During his professional Mixed Martial Arts debut Saturday night, he continued to dominate, knocking his opponent out in 1:25.

In front of a crowd of just less than 2,000 people at the Columbia Holiday Inn, Askren had the opportunity to unite with Missouri fans.

Askren's opponent Josh Flowers got in an early two punches, starting off the fight. It didn't faze Askren. Instead, Askren simply started smiling. He knew what was about to come.

Askren shot in on Flowers, much like he did during his days as a Missouri wrestler. He picked up Flowers and slammed him to the ground. From there, Askren threw punch after punch until Flowers could no longer hang on, and the referee stopped the match.

"I was excited to get in there," Askren said. "When he hit me, it felt kind of good. It was like let's go. It was a lot of fun. I'm glad the crowd came out here to back me, and hopefully they will again."

Despite his dominance in the fight, Askren said he needs to keep his hands up so he doesn't get hit early again.

Askren has been training with American Top Team, an MMA training center in Columbia.

"I think our fighters put on a tough performance," Askren said. "We showed a lot of heart and everyone battled."

Former MU wrestler Tyrone Woodley is another fighter who trains with American Top Team. Like Askren, Woodley won his fight, knocking out Steve Schneider in 1:09.

"He's quick," Askren said. "We play around, and Tyrone will be going places soon, but we will never fight."

Woodley also spoke highly of Askren.

"He's laughing before his fights," Woodley said. "Anyone that can be real relaxed and calm like that, those guys are dangerous fighters, so I think he has a successful career ahead of him."

MMA Fights are often featured on television, but Askren said he would need to have several more fights before he can be featured.

"Most major productions look for you to have three or four fights before you go there, so it's going to take time, but we are on a different level right now," Askren said.

MMA is a full-contact combat sport in which a variety of fighting techniques are used. It gained popularity in the late '60s and early '70s with the emergence of Bruce Lee and his theories of mixing various martial art styles.

"Some people may think of it as medieval, barbaric shit, but I think the people that came here tonight saw a great show and saw two competitors come in and have fun and put a lot of hard work into it," Askren said.

Askren will have his second professional fight April 25 at the Patriot Act Two.