Askren to defend ONE title vs. Aoki in November retirement bout
Ben Askren is looking to go out on top.
The 33-year-old ONE Championship welterweight king will defend his crown against Shinya Aoki on Nov. 24 in Singapore before hanging up his gloves to rejoin the fledgling outfit as an executive, promotional head Chatri Sityodtong announced Sunday on Facebook.
An April 2015 no contest notwithstanding, Askren takes a spotless resume of 17-0, which includes a Bellator title and two defenses of the ONE crown into his date with Aoki. The Wisconsin native just retained it in a two-round drubbing of Zebaztian Kadestam this past Saturday.
Aoki, 34, makes a rare appearance at 170 pounds in what will end a one-year layoff. The Japanese submission artist has won all but one of his six fights under the ONE banner, the blemish a third-round TKO loss to Eduard Folayang that cost him the lightweight title in his most recent outing.
Also defending a ONE strap on the bill is atomweight queen Angela Lee, who'll meet Mei Yamaguchi - the fighter she outpointed in a five-round classic to win it in May 2016. The 21-year-old Lee has since defended the title twice in 2017, with tapout victories over Jenny Huang and Istela Nunes.
Yamaguchi dropped a split decision to Nunes three months after falling to Lee, but got back in the win column with a second-round submission of Huang this past June.
- With h/t to MMA Fighting