Ben Askren News

Natasha Hooper - July 6, 2019

Ben Askren suffered the first loss of his career in brutal fashion to Jorge Masvidal at tonight’s UFC 239 event in Las Vegas. ‘Gamebred’ was able to catch the former Bellator and ONE champion with a flying knee just seconds into the fight which sent ‘Funky’ crashing to the octagon canvas.

Christopher Taylor - July 6, 2019

UFC President Dana White shares his reaction to Jorge Masvidal’s record setting knockout victory over Ben Askren at UFC 239. The brash UFC boss spoke to ESPN‘s Brett Okamoto about ‘Gamebred’s’ 5-second knockout victory over the previously undefeated ‘Funky’ backstage at tonight’s event.

Christopher Taylor - July 6, 2019

Jorge Masvidal set a record tonight in Las Vegas, scoring the fastest knockout in promotional history over Ben Askren at UFC 239. It took ‘Gamebred’ only five seconds to end Ben Askren’s undefeated streak this evening in Sin City.

Christopher Taylor - July 6, 2019

A welterweight bout between perennial divison contenders Ben Askren and Jorge Masvial took place at tonight’s UFC 239 event in Las Vegas. ‘Funky’ was returning to action for the first time since March’s UFC 235 event, where he scored a controversial submission victory over former division kingpin Robbie Lawler.

Chris Taylor - July 6, 2019

Undefeated welterweight Ben Askren received some practice, well sort of, from a fight fan prior to tonight’s UFC 239 fight with Jorge Masvidal. The former Bellator and ONE champion, Askren (19-0 MMA), was confronted by what appears to be a very intoxicated fight fan who had some choice words and interesting moves for ‘Funky’.

Chris Taylor - July 6, 2019

Undefeated welterweight Ben Askren decided to have one last bit of fun before his fight with Jorge Masvidal at tonight’s UFC 239 event. ’Funky’ took to Twitter late yesterday evening, where he shared the following ‘family video’ for fight fans.

Tom Taylor - July 5, 2019

Jorge Masvidal and Ben Askren, who are set to meet on the UFC 239 main card this Saturday, are not particularly big fans of one another. The pair have exchanged plenty of pre-fight trash talk in interviews and on social media, and that intensity has continued now that they’ve both landed in Las Vegas. In fact, the pair had a tense backstage encounter this week.

Natasha Hooper - July 5, 2019

Jorge Masvidal and Ben Askren exchanged some choice words when they came face to face at the UFC 239 media day on Thursday. Askren chose to taunt his upcoming opponent to try and get a reaction. The UFC posted a clip of the exchange on their Twitter.

Tom Taylor - July 4, 2019

At UFC Newark, on August 3, top welterweight Colby Covington will look to reestablish himself as the next man in line for the champion Kamaru Usman with a big win over Robbie Lawler. Ben Askren, one of Covington’s most vocal haters, believes this is a fight that could go either way. Check out what he had to say about the matchup below (via Heidi Fang)

Natasha Hooper - July 4, 2019

The drama continues to unfold between Jorge Masvidal and Ben Askren. Masvidal recently sat down with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto to clarify some recent comments he made. Last week, Askren called out Masvidal for saying he wanted to end his bloodline. During a State of Combat podcast, Askren’ called the alleged comments “sick” and “disturbing.”

Adam Martin - July 3, 2019

Although most consider Colby Covington to be the No. 1 contender in the UFC welterweight division, it’s possible he gets passed over for the next title shot. Everyone thought Covington would be next in line to fight UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, but Covington was recently booked to fight Robbie Lawler in the main event of UFC Newark. Covington hasn’t fought since last June and with Usman out until November, Covington needed to take a fight to stay busy and make some money.

Natasha Hooper - July 3, 2019

According to retired UFC veteran Yves Edwards, Jorge Masvidal may be the greatest MMA fighters he’s ever trained with. Edwards sat down with Joe Rogan on his podcast to discuss a range of topics, including the upcoming fight between Ben Askren and Jorge Masvidal.

Tom Taylor - July 2, 2019

Ben Askren is not impressed by Nate Diaz. Speaking to MMA Fighting recently, Askren shared his thoughts on the UFC 241 fight between Diaz and Anthony Pettis, and was not particularly kind in his assessment of the former.

Cole Shelton - July 2, 2019

UFC 239 is set to go down from Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday. The card is headlined by two title fights, and also on the card is an intriguing welterweight fight between Ben Askren and Jorge Masvidal, where the winner could very well get the next title shot. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the fight. Although Askren is a -250 favorite, while Masvidal being the +195 underdog, the majority of the pros are leaning towards Masvidal giving Askren his first professional loss.

Tom Taylor - July 2, 2019

This Saturday, on the main card of UFC 239, Ben Askren will collide with Jorge Masvidal in a pivotal welterweight contender bout. Askren originally expected to fight Darren Till in his next bout, but then Masvidal knocked Till out, jumping the line in the process. “Going in to the fight with Masvidal, I thought [Darren] Till was going to win,” Ben Askren said when speaking to MMA Fighting. “Masvidal was already making excuses so I didn’t really think it was a good possibility of me fighting Masvidal but then when he won, they started looking around at opponents for me and “Wonderboy” [Stephen Thompson] lost [to Anthony Pettis] and Masvidal was the one that made the most sense.

Tom Taylor - June 30, 2019

Shortly after former boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi came up short to UFC veteran Artem Lobov in a bare knuckle bout at BKFC 6, he was criticized by MMA stars Ben Askren and Chael Sonnen. Both men made comments suggesting that perhaps boxers aren’t quite as skilled as we previously believed. Malignaggi has now responded to these criticisms with a challenge to both Askren and Sonnen. He encouraged the pair of MMA fighters to to give boxing a try if they think it’s so easy. He also added that they’re probably make more money doing so than they do in MMA.

Cole Shelton - June 26, 2019

When Kamaru Usman beat Tyron Woodley at UFC 235 to become the welterweight champion, all signs pointed to his first title defense being against Colby Covington. Well, that likely won’t happen now. On Monday it was announced that the former interim champion would take on Robbie Lawler at UFC Newark. Much to the despair of Usman.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 26, 2019

Ben Askren has given his take on Artem Lobov’s victory over Paulie Malignaggi. Lobov vs. Malignaggi served as the main event of BKFC 6 inside the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall in Tampa on June 22. Malignaggi was the slight favorite going into the bout, but he dropped a unanimous decision after five rounds of bare-knuckle boxing action. Many were surprised that Lobov scored the win given Malignaggi’s boxing experience.