History was made when Jorge Masvidal met Ben Askren in a vicious grudge match on the main card of last night’s (Sat., July 6, 2019) UFC 239 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
After one of the most trash talk-filled build-ups in recent memory, ‘Funky’ was instead immortalized in the fastest UFC KO of all-time. ‘Gamebred’ came out smoking with a monstrous flying knee (watch highlights here) at the opening bell. It nailed Askren as he shot for a telegraphed takedown, knocking him out right away. Follow-up shots soon came after, but Askren could have been done in two seconds. The official time was five seconds.
White Updates Askren’s Health
Masvidal earned a clear ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus for his efforts last night. As for Askren, he was brutally knocked out in a concerning scene. He remained extremely out of it for several moments afterward. Askren was then escorted out of the cage and taken in for medical testing. Speaking at the post-fight presser, UFC President Dana White updated Askren’s health:
“He’s good. All of his stuff came back negative, so he’s okay.”
White then corrected himself, noting that he wasn’t necessarily “okay,” but was healthy:
“I’m sure he’s not okay, but he’s….yeah.”
White was asked if Askren was feeling “good enough,” to which he agreed:
“Yeah, exactly.”
After winning in controversial fashion over Robbie Lawler in his UFC debut at UFC 235 last March, Askren was looking to talk (and win) his way into a title shot by topping Masvidal. Instead, he suffered his first-ever mixed martial arts loss and will go down in UFC history as a result.
“Funky” will no doubt rebound and get another big fight. It’s good to hear he did not suffer any serious ailments in the unbelievable loss. But it also shows the danger of his over-the-top style.
It only works as long as you keep winning.
Where does Ben Askren go after his record-setting knockout loss in “Sin City?”
