UFC welterweight Ben Askren views his UFC 239 loss to Jorge Masvidal from a unique perspective. “Funky” feels responsible for Masvidal’s sudden boost in popularity after scoring the highlight reel knockout and setting a new UFC record from it.
“I will acknowledge that I made him this popular. I brought the best in him, So it’s fine, it’s part of the game. We were the most anticipated fight by far on the biggest card of the year,” Askren said last week on the Ariel Helwani MMA Show.
“Jorge can say I’m a dick, or whatever the hell he wants to say about me, but if he wasn’t so rude, he should probably say, ‘Thank you for making me a lot of money.’”
In a separate interview, “Gamebred” somehow obliged and gave his version of a thank you.
“To thank him, I thank everybody that steps in there and fights,” Masvidal said during a backstage interview at UFC Uruguay (via MMA Fighting). “So he can get the general thank you. But he didn’t do nothing for me, I did everything for that moment.
“That moment was me doing that. That’s not the first time I knocked somebody out with a flying knee. It won’t be the last either. It was just at the right time at the best possible scenario.
“So in a way, yeah, I guess, thanks to Ben’s chin for being in collision with my f—ng knee. So thank you to your f—ng chin, Ben.”
Askren is set to face Demian Maia at a still undetermined date and venue, but the two parties already made a verbal agreement to fight at the UFC’s Singapore card on October 26th.
Masvidal, on the other hand, has yet to book his next fight.
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