Askren wrestling credentials

[Teh_Lulz7]

The Hodge Trophy is awarded each year to the best college wrestler. Askren is one of only 4 guys to win it multiple times.

College:
4x All-American (2nd, 2nd, 1st, 1st)
2x Hodge Trophy Winner
NCAA single season pin record.

Freestyle:
Pan American Champion
World Team Trials Champ/Olympian

Love your AV my man

 

[CriticalHit]

If you made an Olympic wrestling team, you're at the absolute top of the heap in terms of raw wrestling skill.

Doesn't always mean you can immediately translate it into "MMA wrestling". Ben Askren has had a long, long time to adapt his wrestling to MMA though.

 

[sakionsunday]

I would argue that Folk Style is a better discpline to learn for MMA than Free Style.

 

[dirtroller]

International and U.S. collegiate wrestling are relatively different. Collegiate and High School wrestling are folkstyle, which centers more on controlling your opponent (on the feet and on the mat) whereas freestyle wrestling (international) is more centered on takedowns and throws. It just happens that folkstyle probably translates better to MMA because of the emphasis on controlling your opponent on the mat.

Take a look at youtube and watch a freestyle match and then watch a folkstyle match. In Freestyle, the referee will bring the two wrestlers back to their feet fairly quickly after hitting the mat. In folkstyle, they'll stay on the mat until there is a true stalemate, i.e. they're in a position where it is not possible for either wrestler to advance/escape.

Takedowns are about equally important in Folkstyle and Freestyle because it's really hard to turn guys for back points at the college level. In Freestyle you only need to expose your opponents back for a spilt second to score points on the mat.

 

[Rav7n]

As a UK ex grappler myself..(I'm excact same age as saku)
And from the same background..
I trained at Gracie Barra northwest.
But my uncle is a famous son of catch wrestling.
And the famous snake pit up the road in Wigan. The birth place and home of catch..

I honestly can only admire askren and his skills..
I don't know about his credentials but he has a brilliant MMA wrestling game.
I know it's not pretty.
But it was seeing Royce subbing guys much bigger and stronger that amazed me about bjj...

From a slightly educated viewpoint his folkstyle transition to MMA is seamless.

Let's not forget that the UFC was created to prove that bjj could beat any other martial arts.
And 20 odd years later as much as it's evolved it's still the grappling that's gets results..

Askren should have been in the UFC ages ago..

 

[MartinGibson86]

one thing is for sure. olympic and world champs are waaay higher skill then ncaa so your friend was as you said blowing smoke out of his ass. but whats most important is the transition because it aint the same sport. you still want to controll your opponent but now its good if you can make some damage aswell if you want to suceed in mma. Mark coleman is probably one of the best examples. he did put on the hammerfists and had great controll

Jordan Burroughs is a Gold Medalist and multiple world champ. Brent Metcalf went 3-0 against him in college.

Freestyle and folkstyle are different. Folk isn't done internationally.

 

[Airdack]

Longtime MMA fan but total n00b when it comes to the wrestling scene.

Quick question hopefully someone can explain to me. I heard Cejudo on JRE claim Askren is "one of the best wrestlers of all time". Obviously there have been numerous All-Americans and some NCAA Champions. My question is what makes someone the "best" or top level wrestler? A guy like Romero was an Olympic silver medalist, Cejudo won gold, but someone like Cormier never medaled in the Olympics and is considered one of the best wrestlers in MMA history. Phil Davis was an NCAA champion but I don't hear a ton about his wrestling really.

Is there a hierarchy of wrestling accomplishments that is easy to explain? Is it: Olympics > World Championships > NCAA title > etc? Or is there really no good way of telling who is the "best" wrestler per se? The main reason I ask is one of my buddies who wrestled in college was saying there are some NCAA wrestlers who are better than olympians. I didn't know if he was blowing smoke or that was true somehow.

He is one of the greatest collegiate wrestlers of all time. He holds wins over guys who became NCCA greats themselves. NCAA season pins record, 3rd NCAA all time pins, one of 2 guys to be awarded the Dan Hodge trophy twice. Olympic level wrestler (he was a folkstyle wrestler competing in freestyle). 4 time All American. Askren did all this being a tall, lanky wrestler with an unorthodox style.

...oh yeah I think he won a pan ams too, he has solid submission grappling on top of some of the best folkstyle wrestling.

Anybody who follows collegiate wrestler knows how insane Askren was and how good he really is. He doesn't sit in guard and blanket guys, he is always moving, always transitioning. He has some of the best rides(wrestling move) in mma.

Credential wise he is in the top 5 wrestler to ever start MMA.

 

[Drugstore Cowboy]

Longtime MMA fan but total n00b when it comes to the wrestling scene.

Quick question hopefully someone can explain to me. I heard Cejudo on JRE claim Askren is "one of the best wrestlers of all time". Obviously there have been numerous All-Americans and some NCAA Champions. My question is what makes someone the "best" or top level wrestler? A guy like Romero was an Olympic silver medalist, Cejudo won gold, but someone like Cormier never medaled in the Olympics and is considered one of the best wrestlers in MMA history. Phil Davis was an NCAA champion but I don't hear a ton about his wrestling really.

Is there a hierarchy of wrestling accomplishments that is easy to explain? Is it: Olympics > World Championships > NCAA title > etc? Or is there really no good way of telling who is the "best" wrestler per se? The main reason I ask is one of my buddies who wrestled in college was saying there are some NCAA wrestlers who are better than olympians. I didn't know if he was blowing smoke or that was true somehow.

Nah, Cejudo said Askren is possibly the best folkstyle rider in MMA history. Which is probably true. His wrestling rides / wrist control and BJJ adaptations are legit as fuck.

 

[superpunch]

He is second to GSP

 

[dirtroller]

Jordan Burroughs is a Gold Medalist and multiple world champ. Brent Metcalf went 3-0 against him in college.

Freestyle and folkstyle are different. Folk isn't done internationally.

Yeah but Metcalf was a world team member himself and a couple years older than Jordan. There are definitely differences between the two styles, but I think people here overemphasize them. If someone is an NCAA champ, they're going to be good at freestyle.

 

[D 1 Wrestler]

One thing to note about world's and Olympic is that they do a random draw for seeding which is complete bullshit . So you can theoretically have the top 2 guys wrestle in the first round.

No doubt askren would have been great in freestyle

 

[george14]

Nah, Cejudo said Askren is possibly the best folkstyle rider in MMA history. Which is probably true. His wrestling rides / wrist control and BJJ adaptations are legit as fuck.

Good call, I misheard. Was listening at work.

 

[dirtroller]

Longtime MMA fan but total n00b when it comes to the wrestling scene.

Quick question hopefully someone can explain to me. I heard Cejudo on JRE claim Askren is "one of the best wrestlers of all time". Obviously there have been numerous All-Americans and some NCAA Champions. My question is what makes someone the "best" or top level wrestler? A guy like Romero was an Olympic silver medalist, Cejudo won gold, but someone like Cormier never medaled in the Olympics and is considered one of the best wrestlers in MMA history. Phil Davis was an NCAA champion but I don't hear a ton about his wrestling really.

Is there a hierarchy of wrestling accomplishments that is easy to explain? Is it: Olympics > World Championships > NCAA title > etc? Or is there really no good way of telling who is the "best" wrestler per se? The main reason I ask is one of my buddies who wrestled in college was saying there are some NCAA wrestlers who are better than olympians. I didn't know if he was blowing smoke or that was true somehow.

As far as hierarchy, The Olympics essentially replaces the World Championships every 4th year, except there are fewer weight classes so it's tougher to qualify.

That said, there are some Senior level Freestyle tournaments that could be on par, or even tougher, than the Olympics in certain weight classes. Reason being that the top few Russians/ Americans / Iranians that participate are usually better than the #1 Algerian, #1 Canadian etc. that get Olympic bids.

 

[george14]

One thing to note about world's and Olympic is that they do a random draw for seeding which is complete bullshit . So you can theoretically have the top 2 guys wrestle in the first round.

No doubt askren would have been great in freestyle

This is what I think my friend was saying. So you can miss an olympic team by getting fucked with seeding?

 

[90 50]

He is one of the greatest collegiate wrestlers of all time. He holds wins over guys who became NCCA greats themselves. NCAA season pins record, 3rd NCAA all time pins, one of 2 guys to be awarded the Dan Hodge trophy twice. Olympic level wrestler (he was a folkstyle wrestler competing in freestyle). 4 time All American. Askren did all this being a tall, lanky wrestler with an unorthodox style.

...oh yeah I think he won a pan ams too, he has solid submission grappling on top of some of the best folkstyle wrestling.

Anybody who follows collegiate wrestler knows how insane Askren was and how good he really is. He doesn't sit in guard and blanket guys, he is always moving, always transitioning. He has some of the best rides(wrestling move) in mma.

Credential wise he is in the top 5 wrestler to ever start MMA.

And he Lost to Johnny Big Rig Hendricks

And Hendricks has also been UFC champ.

Hendricks Goat over Askren

 

[90 50]

He is second to GSP

He’s behind Hughes, then Hendricks way the f behind GSP

 

[Airdack]

And he Lost to Johnny Big Rig Hendricks

And Hendricks has also been UFC champ.

Hendricks Goat over Askren

God people like you are fucking idiots. He lost to Hendricks in HIGH SCHOOL.... long before Askren grew into the wrestler he became. Hendricks wrestling credentials don't even come close to Askrens and would have been tooled by Askren during the height of his collegiate career.

Hendricks was too busy finger fucking Woodleys mouth to ever face Askren again.

 

[Te Huna Matata]

olympics... world championship....ncaa


in that order.

Not really. Olympics and Worlds are the same. Unless you won a World title at a non-Olympic weight during an Olympic year, it's the same thing.

To another point, yes, the skill level when it comes to takedowns of a World Champ vs. an NCAA Champ is probably not comparable. But, folkstyle wrestling is better suited for MMA than freestyle as there is more of an emphasis on control once it hits the mat.

To the OP, Askren had 7 career college losses and 6 were to the same guy. He was a 4x finalist and regarded as the best pinner in the modern era. When he moved on to the international scene, he was moderately successful.

 

[Te Huna Matata]

And he Lost to Johnny Big Rig Hendricks

And Hendricks has also been UFC champ.

Hendricks Goat over Askren

He’s behind Hughes, then Hendricks way the f behind GSP

Stop. The only time they ever wrestled was when they were juniors in high school. Askren was always at least one weight class above Hendricks in college. Askren is a better wrestler than Hendricks. He accomplished far more and is much higher regarded. Hughes is not close to either.

 

[MartinGibson86]

And he Lost to Johnny Big Rig Hendricks

And Hendricks has also been UFC champ.

Hendricks Goat over Askren

They wrestled in HS, and Hendricks is older than Askren.

Askren lost to 2 guys in college: Chris Pendleton (Okie St.) & Ryan Lange (Purdue).

Hendricks backed down from Askren in college.