Jorge Masvidal Reveals Why He Decided To Attempt Flying Knee On Ben Askren
Fresh off arguably the most memorable knockout in UFC history, Jorge Masvidal revealed why he decided to go for a flying knee on Ben Askren at UFC 239 this past weekend.
The welterweight bout lasted just five seconds as Masvidal knocked Askren out cold and delivered the former ONE and Bellator star’s first-ever defeat. Later, footage showed that Masvidal had actually been drilling the technique before the event and it was planned all along.
So why did Masvidal decide to start the fight that way? “Gamebred” explained how it was down to his interactions with Askren:
“Yeah, I remember [when I decided to start the fight with a flying knee],” Masvidal said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday. “You want the whole thing on how I knew for a fact this guy couldn’t stop it? A little bit of psychology.
“But listen, the way that he acted just in real life when I get him on the fly. What I mean by fly is he’s walking, I’m walking, I just pop up on him. The way I habitually popped up on him and made him just freeze up, I knew he couldn’t handle improvisation. …He can’t handle that sh*t man. He can’t handle changes. I hit him with a nice little change.“
Masvidal Says Askren Can’t Adapt And Survive
Masvidal still doesn’t like Askren, and leading up to the event, regularly spoke of how he wished to beat him up for 14 minutes before delivering the final blow. However, after their interactions, Masvidal knew Askren wouldn’t be able to adapt to what was eventually a fight-ending flying knee:
“Nah, it wasn’t like that,” Masvidal said when asked if he planned the knee the moment the fight was announced. “Once it got announced, I was like ‘I’m going to beat this guy’s a*s for 14 minutes.’ Then I decided, you know what? I’m just going to check him right off the gate and see where he’s at.
“Then when I came in and saw him in the flesh, and I saw how weak he is actually…on the fly, he can’t do anything, he can’t talk to anybody. Especially when it’s just me and him. So, to have those types of characteristics, you’re a person who can’t adapt and survive, [and] he showed it.”
What do you think of Masvidal’s comments?
