Ben Askren never got that UFC contract that he left Bellator for, in fact, the UFC turned him away. It was shocked, to say the least, because Ben Askren was the king of Bellator’s Welterweight division and you could argue one of the best fighters not under a UFC contract at the time. The UFC has hired far worse and less experienced fighters than Ben Askren, yet they told him to sign with World Series of Fighting and come back when he was more experienced.
Ben Askren took that and went to OneFC instead, thumbing his nose at convention. It looks like Askren is also considering retiring after his OneFC contract is up instead of chasing that UFC contract yet again. [source]
“[Retirement] is definitely a possibility,” Askren said on The MMA Hour. “My two things I always said was 1) I would be retired by the time I had my first kid. 2) I’d be retired by the time I’m 30. I had my first kid and I’m not done yet, and I’m turning 30 later this year. So those two landmarks that I have set for myself I’m passing by. I still train at a very high level. I still compete at a very high level.”