Jorge Masvidal: Ben Askren could get Leon Edwards treatment if he oversteps

In a fight that likely has some title implications in the welterweight division, Jorge Masvidal has a personal goal for his UFC 239 opponent, Ben Askren. Since his arrival into the UFC, “Funky” Ben Askren has gotten under the skin of a lot of fighters, especially in the welterweight division, but Masvidal isn’t here for any jokes or games.

Askren is coming off a controversial win over Robbie Lawler at UFC 235, the first fight of his UFC career, after a long beef with Dana White kept him away from the promotion. During a recent interview with BJPenn.com Radio, Masvidal discussed his fight with Askren and said he’d like to break the wrestling specialist’s face “on a personal note.”

“I want to break Ben’s face on a personal note, you know?,” he said. “I want to hurt the dude, man, but I don’t want to take him out or anything, I just want to beat his ass for as long as I can. Beat him to an inch within his life and then let him recover and then do that again, as many times as I can, so that I utterly break him.

“I met Ben a long time ago and he’s just one of these dudes that just talks man, you know? Goes to a gym and talks about a session that he had with somebody. Like, man, he got no respect for yourself or your f***ing teammates, s**t like that. But it’s the new age s**t like we’ve talked about. These guys will say anything to get a like on Facebook, to get a re-post on Twitter. They’ll say anything, they’ll sell their mother out. They have to just to ignite that buzz.”

Focused on getting a title shot after a victory over Askren, Jorge Masvidal said that he’s just over the “corny” antics of his upcoming opponent, saying “Funky” is irrelevant in the division.

“It’s corny,” he said. “I’m glad I’m the dude that gets to break his face. He’s one of those dudes, he’s just talking. He’s so irrelevant he tries to make himself relevant by just talking, just constantly talking, talking, talking, talking, talking and we’re going to see man where that talking leads to July 6th.”

When asked how he plans on breaking Ben Askren’s face, Masvidal laid out plans to take his time in the fight, then putting away Askren late.

“I’m going to break his will first, that’s the first thing I’m going to do. He’s a dude that likes to pride himself on his will. I’m going to break his will and then after that I’m going to break his face. I’m going to hurt him. I want to hurt this dude, I want to have fun, like I’ve always had fun in there. I just can’t wait man. That’s what I want to do. Punch him for 14 minutes and like 50 seconds is what I want to do and then put the poor dog out of his misery.”

As the two are likely to cross paths before the fight, Jorge Masvidal also issued a warning that if Askren violated his personal space the way Leon Edwards did in London back in March, Askren would suffer the same thing Edwards suffered backstage.

“If Ben violates my personal space at any moment to where I feel a threat, yeah, it’s going to happen, the same thing that happened with Leon, if Leon’s across the room and I’m not doing an interview and he’s talking s**t, well whatever man, f**k it.”

With his opponent being known for getting under the skin of his rivals, Masvidal lays it out simply, if his personal space gets violated, things could turn ugly.

“You’re at a safe distance, but it’s just, people have to understand it’s built into me to go into defense mode if somebody violates my personal space. I don’t know, as well as I can read body language, I really don’t know what somebody’s intentions are. I don’t know if he’s going to come over and be like, ‘boom roasted’ or some corny ass shit like that or if he’s going to try to double flip me.

“I don’t know these things so, as long as he keeps his distance from me, ain’t going to be no problems you know? If he’s at a distance where I’m unsafe and I feel threatened you know? Yeah, I think things will happen”

Jorge Masvidal isn’t here for antics or trash talk, he’s warned his next opponent to keep his distance leading up to the fight, and at UFC 239, “Gamebred” is looking to make a statement over Ben Askren that elevates him into welterweight title contention.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 6/19/2019.