Elite welterweight prospect Ben Askren is among the most highly touted MMA prospects in the world. The 2008 Olympic wrestler is among a handful of MMA fighters who can claim an Olympic pedigree and serves as one of the sports most decorated wrestlers of all time.

Wrestling out of the University of Missouri, Askren holds the NCAA record of most pins in a season en route to earning two NCAA Division I national championships and capturing the prestigious distinction of becoming the 2006-2007 Big 12 Athlete of the year.

But this 25-year-old Iowa native is just getting started. At 3-0 Askren has dominated his opponents thus far. Not one of his fights has gone out of the first round, the longest lasting just 1:27. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt recently checked in with FiveKnuckles.com's Tommy Kail to discuss his transition from decorated Olympic wrestler to budding MMA star, the advantages of being a wrestler, training at Arizona Combat Sports, and much more.

FiveKnuckles.com: When did you first decide that MMA was something you wanted to try?

Ben Askren: I watched it on television in college. I was a big fan. I thought it was something I'd like to do when I got out of college. After I graduated, I continued wrestling at the Olympic level and I got into MMA after that.

FiveKnuckles.com: Is MMA turning into the next step for college wrestlers? Is it the next logical step?

Ben Askren: It seems that way. Obviously there's not quite as many spots available for wrestlers in MMA as there is for baseball, football, and basketball players on the next level. I'd have to count them up, but I'd say there's a fairly heavy percentage of Division I collegiate wrestlers in the UFC right now. Pretty much everyone in the UFC has some kind of wrestling background, whether they only wrestled a little when they were a kid, in high school or a smaller division in college. It just depends on what that particular individual wants out of life. It's a wrestler's best option to make a lot of money because you can't do so wrestling or coaching wrestling. If the goal is to make a lot of money, then MMA is definitely the best option, but there are a lot of wrestlers out there that don't like to get hit. Others don't want to be on television in the glitz and glamor and some guys just want to move on with a regular life.

FiveKnuckles.com: You won two NCAA wrestling titles and hold the NCAA single-season record for pins. Does that mentality of being a finisher help you in MMA?

Ben Askren: Oh yeah, I'm aggressive. I like finishing fights. The mentality of being a pinner helps me out in fighting because it's a very aggressive/don't hold anything back kind of style.

FiveKnuckles.com: You reached the NCAA championship match your freshman and sophomore years and came up short. What was going through your head before your junior season when you started your remarkable run of back-to-back national titles?

Ben Askren: I believed I was going to win the national title as a freshman and sophomore, even though I lost in the championship match both of those seasons. Going into my junior season I knew I was going to win. I knew I was going to be dominant. I had a "take no prisoners" mentality. I knew I was going to pin a lot...