Ben Askren News

Jorge Masvidal, Ben Askren, Conor McGregor, Chael Sonnen
Jorge Masvidal

Jorge Masvidal reacts after Ben Askren calls for rematch

Harry Kettle - July 26, 2023

Former UFC fighter Jorge Masvidal has reacted to Ben Askren calling for a rematch with him in the future. Four years ago, Jorge Masvidal became a superstar. While his wins over Darren Till and Nate Diaz were notable, it was his vicious knockout of Ben Askren that really put him on the map. Just five seconds into their highly anticipated grudge match, ‘Gamebred’ was able to knock Askren out cold with a nasty knee to the head.

Jorge Masvidal, Ben Askren
Dana White

Ben Askren shares direct messages with Dana White regarding a potential UFC rematch with Jorge Masvidal

Susan Cox - July 25, 2023

Ben Askren has shared direct messages with Dana White regarding a potential UFC rematch with Jorge Masvidal. Jorge Masvidal (35-17 MMA) and Ben Askren (19-2 MMA) met in the Octagon in July of 2019 at UFC 239. The result was a knockout victory for Masvidal at 0:05 of Round 1. It was to be the fastest KO in UFC history.

Ben Askren, Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor

Ben Askren scoffs at Conor McGregor’s claim that he plans on fighting 3 or 4 times in the next year: “That’s crazy talk”

Susan Cox - June 3, 2023

Ben Askren has scoffed at Conor McGregor’s claim that he plans on fighting 3 or 4 times in the next year. The Irishman, 34, has not fought in the Octagon since his TKO loss to Dustin Poirier (29-7 MMA) in July of 2021 at UFC 264.

Jake Paul, Ben Askren
Jake Paul

Ben Askren offers a prediction for 'actually not bad' Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz boxing match

Josh Evanoff - June 2, 2023

Former UFC welterweight contender Ben Askren didn’t actually expect Jake Paul to be good at boxing. ‘Funky’ has been retired since an April 2021 clash against ‘The Problem Child’. The boxing match was the first of Askren’s career, and will likely go down as the last. The former Bellator champion was predictably knocked out in the first round by Paul.

UFC Knockouts
Jorge Masvidal

Jorge Masvidal details why he was "95 percent certain" that his flying knee would KO Ben Askren

Cole Shelton - March 22, 2023

Jorge Masvidal was confident he would be able to KO Ben Askren with a flying knee after he got face-to-face with him. Masvidal and Askren fought back in July of 2019 at UFC 239 at International Fight Week in a highly anticipated fight. The pair engaged in a ton of trash talk in the leadup to the contest, with Askren claiming he would easily be able to outwrestle Masvidal. Once the pair went face-to-face, ‘Gamebred’ was certain ‘Funky’ would try and shoot right away.

Ben Askren, Conor McGregor, Nick Diaz
UFC

Ben Askren shares his thoughts on the UFC’s complex welterweight title picture

Harry Kettle - March 22, 2023

Former UFC fighter Ben Askren has given his thoughts on the current state of the promotion’s welterweight title picture. Last weekend at UFC 285, Leon Edwards successfully retained the UFC welterweight championship. He did so by defeating Kamaru Usman, the same man he knocked out for the belt last summer.

UFC Knockouts
Gilbert Burns

Ben Askren believes Jorge Masvidal was pressured into accepting fight with Gilbert Burns at UFC 287: “He doesn’t think he’s gonna win either”

Harry Kettle - February 1, 2023

Ben Askren has explained why he doesn’t believe Jorge Masvidal will defeat Gilbert Burns when they meet at UFC 287. It’s no secret that Ben Askren and Jorge Masvidal don’t like each other. After all, ‘Gamebred’ was the one who knocked Askren out cold when they met back in 2019.

Jorge Masvidal, Ben Askren
Jake Paul

Ben Askren reflects on devasting defeats to Jorge Masvidal, Jake Paul, and end of MMA career: "I totally messed it up"

Josh Evanoff - January 11, 2023

Former UFC welterweight contender Ben Askren has reflected on the close of his combat sports career. ‘Funky’ initially retired from MMA back in 2017, following a title defense against Shinya Aoki. Askren defeated the jiu-jitsu ace by first-round stoppage and hung up the gloves for good. However, he noted that he would return to the sport if he could fight in the UFC.

Paddy Pimblett, Jared Gordon, UFC 282, UFC
Jared Gordon

Ben Askren praises Paddy Pimblett's attitude following controversial win over Jared Gordon: "That’s what early McGregor would have done"

Josh Evanoff - December 14, 2022

While many are attacking Paddy Pimblett, Ben Askren liked what he saw at UFC 282. ‘The Baddy’ made his return to the octagon last Saturday night on pay-per-view. The bout was just Pimblett’s fourth in the promotion, and despite that, he’s already a star. Promotional deals with brands such as Barstool Sports have only raised his profile further.

Jorge Masvidal, Ben Askren
Gilbert Burns

Ben Askren says it is “obvious” that Jorge Masvidal is ducking Gilbert Burns: “Obviously he is declining”

Harry Kettle - November 21, 2022

Ben Askren believes that Jorge Masvidal is ducking Gilbert Burns due to an ongoing decline in his abilities. Back in 2019, Jorge Masvidal was the biggest thing going in mixed martial arts. With Conor McGregor being on the shelf and Khabib Nurmagomedov only fighting once, Masvidal stepped up to the plate with three fights in an incredible twelve-month period.

Jake Paul, Ben Askren
Jake Paul

Ben Askren shares his thoughts on a potential Jake Paul vs Nate Diaz boxing match: “I don't know why anyone would think that Nate has much of a chance”

Cole Shelton - November 4, 2022

Ben Askren shared his brutally honest assessment of a potential Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz fight. After Paul defeated Anderson Silva by decision to improve to 6-0, he called out Nate Diaz. It’s a fight he has talked about for quite some time and the interest only increased after the win. As well, the two have taken shots at one another for quite some time and at the event, their teams got into a backstage scuffle.

Dana White, Ben Askren
Joe Rogan

Joe Rogan reveals that he previously pleaded with the UFC to sign Ben Askren years prior to trade for Demetrious Johnson: "He was ragdolling these dudes!"

Josh Evanoff - October 27, 2022

UFC commentator Joe Rogan didn’t have a direct hand in Ben Askren heading to the UFC, but he absolutely helped. ‘Funky’ is one of the greatest wrestlers to ever step into the octagon. After an excellent freestyle wrestling career, Askren moved to MMA in 2009 and quickly found himself in Bellator. There, he began dominating the welterweight division.

Jorge Masvidal, Ben Askren
Jorge Masvidal

Ben Askren believes "journeyman bum" Jorge Masvidal should appreciate him for stardom: "He needs to send me a Christmas card"

Josh Evanoff - October 19, 2022

Years after their fight, Ben Askren and Jorge Masvidal still appear to not be on good terms. At UFC 239 in July 2019, ‘Funky’ and ‘Gamebred’ met in a key welterweight clash. At the time, Askren was 1-0 in the UFC and was undefeated in his career. It was just months after his trade to the promotion, and he was looking to make a splash against the resurging Masvidal.

Ben Askren, Demetrious Johnson
Chael Sonnen

Chael Sonnen explains why the UFC should have no regrets over trading Demetrious Johnson for Ben Askren

Susan Cox - September 2, 2022

Chael Sonnen is explaining why the UFC should have no regrets over trading Demetrious Johnson for Ben Askren. It was almost four years ago that the UFC made a cross-promotion trade, sending Demetrious Johnson to ONE Championship in return for Ben Askren. In 2018 the agreement was reached between the UFC and Singapore’s ONE Championship which saw the first trade between the two MMA promotions.

Ben Askren, Conor McGregor, Nick Diaz
UFC

Ben Askren reveals the only fight he would end his retirement for

Cole Shelton - August 30, 2022

Ben Askren is happily retired from MMA but admits there is one fight that would draw him back in. Askren retired following his submission loss to Demian Maia but then made his pro boxing debut and was knocked out by Jake Paul. After the loss, he confirmed his career would be over as he needed hip surgery and cited his age. However, ‘Funky’ says he would end his retirement and return to fighting to face Jorge Masvidal.

Jorge Masvidal, Ben Askren
Jorge Masvidal

Ben Askren blasts Jorge Masvidal for trying to lockup a title fight with Leon Edwards: “You can’t avoid someone for 3 years then try to pick a fight once they get a belt”

Cole Shelton - August 24, 2022

Ben Askren doesn’t think Jorge Masvidal should be fighting for UFC gold his next time out. After Edwards knocked out Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 to become the new welterweight champ, Masvidal was quick to campaign for the fight. Of course, the two have a history with the three-piece and a soda incident in London as well as being booked to face one another at UFC 269.

Ben-Askren-Jorge-Masvidal
Jorge Masvidal

Ben Askren responds after Jorge Masvidal suggests he would “love” to face him in a straight wrestling match

Susan Cox - April 20, 2022

Ben Askren has responded after Jorge Masvidal suggested he would ‘love’ to face him in a straight wrestling match. Askren, 37, is a former professional mixed martial artist and amateur wrestler. ‘Funky’ is the former Bellator and ONE Welterweight Champion, who remained undefeated for over a decade before competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Ben Askren (19-2 MMA) retired from active competition after his loss to Demian Maia (28-11 MMA) back in  October of 2019.

Ben-Askren-Jorge-Masvidal
Jorge Masvidal

Ben Askren reacts after Jorge Masvidal tries to clarify previous threat of ending his bloodline: “Is this an apology or what is this?”

Susan Cox - March 25, 2022

Ben Askren has reacted after Jorge Masvidal attempted to clarify a previous threat he had made about ending his bloodline. It was Ben Askren (19-2 MMA) vs Jorge Masvidal (35-16 MMA) at UFC 239 back in July of 2019. In the fastest and perhaps most violent knockout in the history of the UFC, it was ‘Gamebred’ who came out victorious at the 0:05 mark of the opening round.