Ben Askren is willing to come off the couch for one more fight.
The former ONE and Bellator Champion called it quits on MMA in 2019 after being knocked out by Jorge Masvidal in five seconds and submitted by Demian Maia in his last outing.
‘I’ll Fight Him’
More than four years into his retirement, Askren still feels like there is unfinished business between him and his longtime rival. Maybe, just maybe, ‘Funky’ can finally get his sweet revenge over Masvidal, who recently announced that he’s ‘unretired’.
Askren now awaits the call to potentially meet Masvidal in a lucrative rematch.
“If Dana called me and said Ben, Jorge Masvidal, UFC 300, international [fight week], I don’t give a damn. I’m out of retirement. I’ll fight him. I don’t care,” Askren told Daniel Cormier.
It was ‘Gamebred’ who put the end to Askren’s perfect 19-0 career, obliterating him with a flying knee at UFC 239 to score the fastest knockout in UFC history.
Side Note: Askren Won’t Step Into The Ring With Masvidal
It might be ‘anytime, anywhere’ for Askren when it comes to fighting Masvidal again, but it’s definitely not ‘any sport’. The prominent wrestler (and 0-1 boxer, thanks to Jake Paul) wants to keep the action inside the Octagon.
“Yeah [only in MMA],” Askren said. “I suck at boxing. You guys all saw that [knockout against Paul]? I’m not fighting boxing. Are we dumb? I’m not good at boxing.”
Askren Won’t ‘Beg’ Or ‘Grovel’ For A Rematch
While redeeming the first and worst loss of his career sounds enticing, Askren says he’s A-OK if the opportunity never comes to do that.
“I wanna fight this guy… but, he’ll never say yes to that unless maybe he loses some more money or something,” Askren continued. “It would be great. I would love to. But you know what? It’s one of those things kinda kinda like what you said about Michael [Chandler]. It’s like, I don’t wanna be begging and groveling for it.
“I mean, it’s unlikely to happen. If someone calls me and says it’s gonna happen, okay, I’m there. If they don’t, I’m just gonna live my life.”
Would you like to see Ben Askren run it back against Jorge Masvidal?
