UFC – Jorge Masvidal To Ben Askren: Get Back On The High Horse
Ben Askren had big plans when he signed with the UFC a year ago. But sadly for ‘Funky’, those plans went out the window after five seconds of his second fight in his new promotion, after being on the wrong end of a flying knee from Jorge Masvidal.
The setback of suffering not only the first knockout of his career, but also the first loss of his career, was followed by more disappointment, after losing to Demian Maia at UFC Singapore last month.
Following the second loss, Askren announced his retirement from the sport, citing the need for a hip replacement as a major reason for the decision.
Speaking to Yahoo! Sports‘ Kevin Iole, the man to handed the first ‘L’ of Askren’s professional MMA career, Jorge ‘Gamebred’ Masvidal, gave his opinion on the former ONE Championship and Bellator champion and his retirement.
“It’s not bad though, second fight in the UFC he breaks a record, we’ve gotta give the guy some applause,” joked the BMF champion when asked about Askren (as transcribed by The South China Morning Post).
Despite all the trash talking between the two in the build up to their match last July, Masvidal recognised the skillset and achievements of Askren.
“He brings in his own crowd, – he was a stand-out in wrestling, especially collegiate wrestling, so he did have a fan base. He did some things over at Bellator and on ONE FC, so he did have a crowd that he brought over with him to the sport, a different type of crowd,” Masvidal stated.
Masvidal knows all too well what it’s like to loss back-to-back fights in the UFC. Before his incredible run in 2019, which has seen him knockout Darren Till and Askren, and beat Nate Diaz, the 35 year old lost to Demian Maia and Stephen Thompson.
With this in mind, Masvidal was disappointed to hear that Askren is retiring from the sport after his two recent losses.
“But what I don’t like is we’re fighters. We’re supposed to fight, man. You got two losses, it’s no big deal my brother. Get back on the high horse, get to work and figure it out, man.”
Although Masvidal admitted that he cannot judge how bad Askren’s hip issue is, he stated that you shouldn’t let two losses discourage you as a fighter.
“I’ve heard he has hip issues and stuff so I can’t comment on how bad his body is holding up or not, but as far as fighting goes, two losses can’t discourage you if you’re a fighter.”
Do you think we’ll ever see Ben Askren return to the UFC Octagon?
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