Top 55 Ben Askren Quotes

I think a lot of fans don’t know MMA that well. They don’t understand the subtleties.

I just like taunting people.

I don’t like Jay Hieron very much. He just bothers me, the way he talks, and he thinks very highly of himself.

When I couldn’t sign with the UFC, I think my goal of being Number 1 in the world went out the window. There’s just no way of doing that at Welterweight without being in the UFC. I could go 50-0, and as long as it’s outside the UFC, I’m not going to be Number 1.

In college wrestling, you see a lot of talented athletes come in and fail because Division I class wrestling is the pinnacle of wrestling in America.

I’m not willing to compromise my goals for monetary value.

I don’t hold grudges.

As long as I’m speaking the truth, I’m going to be OK with what I’m saying. That’s kind of how I’ve lived my whole life.

Every single time you compete, I don’t care what it is, you want to perform the best you can, and I feel like I’m doing that.

Nate Diaz sucks.

If my team and family are happy for me, I’m not going to let what some fans think affect me in any way.

People who are great at what they do, they do it the same way no matter who the opponent is.

I love running my business, and I love wrestling. I love helping kids.

My two things I always said is, No. 1, I’d be retired by the time I had my first kid, and No. 2, I’d be retired by the time I was 30.

The worst 24- to 36-hour period of my whole camp, the part I like the least, is the part where I’ve gotta cut 13 to 15 pounds of water weight.

In MMA, all of these coaches are doing their best.

I trained with Jorge Masvidal when I’ve been training MMA for 2-1/2 months in Coconut Creek, Fla., in, like, December 2008. I was beating him up then!

I want to go and fight the best guys in the world and show people I’m the best. And hey, if something doesn’t go my way – I don’t think that’s gonna happen. I realize that’s a possibility in competition, and that’s what happens.

I’m open to a super fight.

It’s like, hey, I’ve done what I could do, I’ve accomplished a lot, and now this – especially with wrestling – if this next generation wants to pass me up, great job. Good for them.

When I’m thinking of sports, when I’m thinking of a boy growing up and being a man, I’m thinking of three things – honor, integrity, and toughness.

Some people, they don’t get a few takedowns, they start getting nervous, and they fade. That’s just not in my character.

Squash – definitely a rich’s person sport, and it’s only played in a handful of countries.

I’m going to win a gold medal.

There are conferences every year where all the major coaches get together, and they talk about the issues in wrestling, what’s going to happen. There’s a major governing body, U.S.A. Wrestling, which oversees a lot of the issues. The organization is there in wrestling to make a very well-balanced, organized system.

I’m not really a soccer fan. I understand they have skill and all that running up and down the pitch and what not.

If your coach ain’t got your back, who’s got your back?

Listen folks, if you want your son to grow up to be a man, don’t have him run around on a field kicking a ball; get him wrestling.

In wrestling, if you want to be the best wrestler, you show up at the U.S. Nationals. If you win that, you go to World Team Trials. You make the World Team, you go to the World Championships, and we all know who the best is at the end of the year.

If you can’t say where you’re going, you’re not going to get there. And I’ve known all along where I’m going, and sometimes the road takes a few curves that you didn’t see, but you’ve got to stay the path.

I have a great relationship with the whole Missouri athletic department. I made friends with everyone from the administrators to the janitors and everyone in between.

One of my favorite topics to read about my whole life has just been famous athletes, and a lot of those have been combat athletes.

Some people who come from high levels in other backgrounds where they’re used to being the best or used to being on a kind of pedestal, it’s hard to kind of lower yourself again and just be one of the grunts. I kind of enjoyed that challenge in MMA.

I’m dominant positionally, and my hands got power.

I just don’t get hit a lot. That’s what I’m good at.

Dana White ain’t going to take care of you the second after you can’t make him a whole bunch of money.

I don’t like all the cheating that’s going in mixed martial arts. I don’t know what percentage of high-level fighters do it, but I think it would be a significant amount.

Obviously, everyone knows it is hard to hang it up, but I’m definitely going to try and do it the right way and not like how combat athletes have done and hold on too long for every last fleeting moment. I don’t want to be one of those people.

If you’re competing right, if you’re doing it right, competition should be a very selfish pursuit.

I speak plainly, I don’t beat around the bush, and I’m just genuine.

I like coaching a lot.

I’m open to any welterweight on Planet Earth.

I think I’m the best in the world at 170 pounds, so why would I need to go down? If, at some point, I beat everyone at 170, I’d consider going up. If I’ve eliminated all my challenges, yeah, at that point I would consider going up.

I’m more of a purist competitor, and I enjoy the fighting aspect of it, but people enjoy my personality, and they enjoy that I tell the truth.

When you’re competing, you need to be selfish. You need to think of yourself first.

When I say something, I generally stick to it, no matter what it is in life.

One of my best qualities is my persistence.

If you think about who retires during their prime, the number of athletes who do that is very small.

Colby Covington is an idiot. He is so stupid.

I don’t think I could ever make 155. I made 163 for the Olympics, and that is a super low weight for me. I’m a fairly big person, and for me to make 163 was incredibly difficult.

People are stubborn, and sometimes even if change is good, people will always oppose change.

If you can’t play the good guy, sometimes you’ve got to play the villain.

I don’t care about having a fancy car. I don’t have a lot of the wants and needs that a lot of people have where I would need to make a $1 million a fight.

Andrey Koreshkov is not well-rounded. He’s been taken down and mounted and has his back taken by Lyman Good, which tells me he’s a terrible grappler. He isn’t well rounded. He’s a good striker, but that’s it.

I’ve never feared anyone or worried what they said as long as what I’m telling is the truth, and I’m not telling lies about people.