B. Askren in an interview with ESPN. Photo: Reproduction/YouTube ESPN MMA
Now a former athlete, Ben Askren surprised and elected Jorge masvidal as the best MMA athlete of 2019. Famous for having suffered one of the most brutal knockouts in the sport in recent times, the North American gave up his pride and stated that his rival deserves credit for the fame he achieved last year. In an interview with 'The Arial Helwani's MMA Show', Askren even joked about the situation.
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“I would like to choose the Israel adesanya (middleweight champion), but I feel like it would be wrong of me. If I have to analyze it impartially, I have to stay with Jorge (Masvidal)”, commented Ben.
Even unintentionally, Askren ended up becoming one of the main people responsible for Masvidal's meteoric rise within Ultimate. In July, at UFC 239, the athletes were scheduled to perform one of the most anticipated clashes on the card. There was a lot of provocation on Ben's part, but the confrontation ended up having a tragic end for the North American.
Concentrated, Jorge managed to shock the world by scoring a lightning knockout in just five seconds, when he took advantage of Ben's takedown attempt and delivered a flying knee of rare precision, which exploded on his rival and led to an immediate knockout.
The blow went down in the company's history and, even so, Askren has no problem accepting the defeat and promoting his former opponent as the company's biggest name this year.
“It doesn’t hurt me (to have to admit it). Things are as they are. That's the truth. Now, do I feel okay? (saying this). Neither. But that’s what happened”, he concluded.
The triumph over Ben gave Masvidal the reputation of being 'bad' and ended up guaranteeing the athlete the chance to headline one of the most watched events of the year. Next to Nate diaz, Jorge starred in the UFC 244, which even had a symbolic title of 'Mais Thick' put up for grabs. The fighter came out victorious over Diaz and is now awaiting his next appointment, which could even be for the welterweight title (up to 77kg.), which belongs to Kamaru Usman.
In addition to the victories over Ben and Nate, Jorge had performed once in early 2019, when he knocked out Darren till in the second round in UFC London.
Contrary to his former rival, Askren saw his career go backwards after the meeting with Jorge. The athlete was chosen to head the UFC Singapore and faced the veteran Demian Maia. In the confrontation between great ground fighting athletes, Ben ended up defeated again and announced his retirement from the sport a few days later.
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