Ben Askren seems to be taking his shocking loss to Jorge Masvidal at UFC 239 in stride.
The rising UFC sensation got obliterated in the opening seconds of his fight against Masvidal after weeks of the two exchanging barbs. I thought Askren was going to win with ease. Clearly, that didn’t happen. (SLIDESHOW: These UFC Women Really Hate Wearing Clothes)
well worth staying up to see masvidal kill askren pic.twitter.com/olfAD6a66g
— Jonathan (@jmaac14) July 7, 2019
Askren spoke to Ariel Helwani on Monday, and said he wasn’t surprised by the fact Masvidal punched him in the face multiple times after he was already knocked out. (SLIDESHOW: These Are The Greatest Ronda Rousey Photos On The Internet)
“I knew what I signed up for. Do I like Jorge Masvidal? No. If you asked me before the fight if Jorge knocks you out, is he going to take a few extra shots? I would have said yep, he definitely is. If that’s what he wants to do, that’s fine,” Askren explained. (SLIDESHOW: These Are The Sexiest Paige VanZant Photos On The Internet)
He also added the flying knee wasn’t a lucky shot from Masvidal.
“I know what I signed up for.” @Benaskren on the punches landed after he was unconscious (via @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/hul4Sj5xtQ
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 8, 2019
Askren to @arielhelwani: “I’m seeing people saying Jorge got lucky. That’s not lucky, man. Is it gonna happen 100 out of 100 times? Definitely not. But landing a knee like that takes a lot of skill. I couldn’t do such a thing.” #HelwaniShow
— Marc Raimondi (@marc_raimondi) July 8, 2019
After suffering his first loss, @Benaskren has no plans to approach trash talk differently (via @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/Rl3SmnFjrs
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 8, 2019
Askren is going to be just fine. The man is still going to be a big time star in the UFC. What happened late Saturday night was pretty much a freak incident.
If they fought again, I’d still pick Askren to win, and I wouldn’t hesitate to do it. Having said that, Askren comes out looking like a good dude by acknowledging he got beat fair and square.
Lots of people are saying Masvidal got lucky. By Askren giving him his props, he comes off as a legit man instead of whiny loser.
Well that sucked
— Ben Askren (@Benaskren) July 7, 2019
I can’t wait to see who he fights next. Give how entertaining he is, there’s no way Dana White is keeping him out of the octagon for long.
