Ben Askren recently announced his retirement from mixed martial arts after going 1-2 in the UFC. It was a disappointing run, but he cited needing a hip replacement as the reason why.
Now, one of his arch-rivals in the UFC in Jorge Masvidal, who knocked out “Funky” in five-seconds believes Askren shouldn’t retire so soon.
“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 [One Championship],” Masvidal told Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports (via South China Morning Post). “So he did have a crowd that he brought over with him to the sport, a different type of crowd.”
“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.”
Masvidal believes if Askren is healthy he should keep on fighting as two losses shouldn’t discourage him.
“I’ve heard he has hip issues and stuff so I can’t comment on how bad his body is holding up or not,” Masvidal said. “But as far as fighting goes, two losses can’t discourage you if you’re a fighter.”
