Ben Askren is done fighting. The former ONE Championship and Bellator welterweight king announced the end of his fighting career on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday, adding that he now plans to undergo a hip replacement.

Askren ends his fighting career on a two-fight skid, having come up short against Demian Maia and Jorge Masvidal, by knockout and submission, in his last two fights. While these losses expedited his decision to retire, he explained that he likely would have retired soon even if he’d been winning.

In fact, Askren’s “storybook ending” likely wouldn’t have occurred much later than the ending he got.

Speaking to Helwani, he divulged that in a perfect world, he would have defeated Robbie Lawler in his UFC debut, then Jorge Masvidal, then Kamaru Usman to win the UFC welterweight title.

He then would have retired with the UFC belt around his waist.

Ben Askren tells @arielhelwani that his storybook ending would have been beating Lawler, then Masvidal, then Usman at UFC 244 and then retiring as champion.

He didn't come to the UFC expecting to compete for three years.

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) November 18, 2019

“Ben Askren tells @arielhelwani that his storybook ending would have been beating Lawler, then Masvidal, then Usman at UFC 244 and then retiring as champion. He didn’t come to the UFC expecting to compete for three years.” – Aaron Bronsteter on Twitter.

In the end, of course, thing didn’t go as planned for Askren.

That being said, he can take great pride in the being a titleholder in both Bellator and ONE Championship, and defeating foes like Douglas Lima, Lyman Good, Andrey Koreshkov, Jay Hieron, Zebaztian Kadestam, Shinya Aoki, and Lawler.

What are your thoughts on the final chapter of Ben Askren’s fighting career? Join the conversation in the comments section down below.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/18/2019.