Ben Askren stops Shinya Aoki, retires undefeated at ONE ‘Immortal Pursuit’

ONE Championship recently wrapped its “Immortal Pursuit” mixed martial arts (MMA) event overseas, which played host to the final fight of Ben Askren’s storied mixed martial arts (MMA) career.

“Funky” (18-0, 1 NC), who also held gold for Bellator MMA, retires undefeated after scoring a first-round technical knockout victory over Shinya Aoki in Singapore, retaining his welterweight title in the process. Askren will vacate the strap in the coming days, which reopens the field at 170 pounds.

Unless something crazy happens.

“I think this is it. If I get the opportunity to prove I’m number one, then I’ll take the opportunity,” the 33-year-old Askren said after the fight. “I don’t need any more money. I just want to show the fans that I’m the best welterweight in the world. Other than that, I’m out.”

I guess we’ll never see this fight.

Official results for ONE: IMMORTAL PURSUIT

ONE Welterweight World Championship bout: Ben Askren defeats Shinya Aoki by TKO (Strikes) at 0:57 minutes of round 1

Lightweight bout: Amir Khan defeats Adrian Pang by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds

Bantamweight bout: Leandro Issa defeats Dae Hwan Kim by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds

Women’s strawweight bout: May Ooi defeats Vy Srey Khouch by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:58 minutes of round 1

Featherweight bout: Ahmed Mujtaba defeats Li Kai Wen by Disqualification (Illegal Blows)

Women’s catchweight bout (58kg): Tiffany Teo defeats Puja Tomar by Submission (Armbar) at 4:07 minutes of round 1

Women’s atomweight bout: Mei Yamaguchi defeats Gina Iniong by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds

Lightweight bout: Arnaud LePont defeats Richard Corminal by Submission (Arm Triangle) at 3:16 minutes of round 1

Catchweight bout (69.4kg): Muhammad Aiman defeats Yang Fei by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds

Strawweight bout: Miao Li Tao defeats Sim Bunsrun by TKO (strikes) at 1:49 minutes of round 1

Head over to www.onefc.com/livestream for the full event replay at just $9.99.