Ben Askren: Jorge Masvidal Should Thank Me For Making Him ‘A Lot Of Money’
Ben Askren hasn’t gotten past his defeat to Jorge Masvidal, but believes the latter should thank him for everything that’s happened since.
Askren suffered the misfortune of receiving the quickest knockout in UFC history when he was at the end of a flying knee from Masvidal last month. It was a first professional defeat for “Funky” and recently appearing on Ariel Helwani‘s MMA Show on Monday, he spoke of how he ruined his life’s dream.
As for Masvidal, his popularity has further skyrocketed and there has even been talk of him potentially facing Conor McGregor next, if not a welterweight title shot. And Askren believes all this is because of him:
“I will acknowledge that I made him this popular,” Askren said (via MMA Mania). “I brought the best in him. So it’s fine, it’s part of the game. We were the most anticipated fight by far on the biggest card of the year. And it definitely wasn’t because Jorge decided not to show up to two different press events. It was because I made it that way.
“Jorge can say I’m a dick, or whatever the hell he wants to say about me, but if he wasn’t so rude, he should probably say, ‘thank you for making me a lot of money.'”
Askren, meanwhile, looks set to face Demian Maia in the headliner for UFC Singapore later this year. He believes he now needs at least two wins to stake a claim for a welterweight title shot.
What do you think of Askren’s comments? Do you think he can get back into title contention?
