Ben Askren would “absolutely” face Jorge Masvidal in UFC 300 rematch: “I’ll fight him!”
Former UFC welterweight contender Ben Askren is willing to run it back against Jorge Masvidal.
‘Gamebred’ made headlines earlier this week, officially announcing that he was out of retirement. Now, the announcement from Jorge Masvidal wasn’t exactly shocking. In recent months, the former UFC title challenger has teased that he will be returning in 2024.
While Jorge Masvidal has stated that his next fight will likely be in boxing, he could meet Ben Askren. ‘Funky’ retired following a 2019 submission loss to Demian Maia, but later returned for a 2021 boxing match with Jake Paul. In his sole appearance in the ring, he was knocked out by ‘The Problem Child’.
While Ben Askren has no interest in boxing again, he would love to fight Jorge Masvidal again. In July 2019, ‘Gamebred’ famously handed the wrestler his first career loss by knockout after a vicious flying knee. Five years later, Askren is down to run it back in the octagon.
Furthermore, he also showed interest in facing his longtime rival at UFC 300 in April. As of now, the fight only has a couple of bouts added to it, including Aljamain Sterling vs. Calvin Kattar. If Dana White wants, he could potentially add Ben Askren vs. Jorge Masvidal II. That is if the latter accepts.
Ben Askren offers to face Jorge Masvidal in potential UFC 300 rematch
“Listen, I will say this right now.” Ben Askren stated during a recent appearance on Daniel Cormier’s YouTube channel discussing a potential return to the cage. “If Dana called me and said ‘Jorge Masvidal, UFC 300. International fight week.’ I don’t give a damn, I’m out of retirement. I will fight him, I don’t care. Yeah [only in MMA], I suck at boxing.”
He continued, “You guys all saw that, I’m not going to fight in boxing. Are you dumb? I’m not doing boxing… Yeah. Yes, unfortunately [he hit with me a once in a lifetime knee], but he’ll never say yes to that. Until he loses some more money or something.”
“But it would be great,” Ben Askren concluded, discussing a potential rematch with Jorge Masvidal, “I would love to.”
As of now, Jorge Masvidal has yet to respond to Ben Askren’s comments. Although, it’s likely that this is just another chapter in this rivalry between former UFC stars. Since their 2019 fight, they’ve repeatedly traded insults back and forth. In fact, Masivdal even helped train the aforementioned Paul for his 2021 boxing match with Askren.
In the event that Jorge Masvidal doesn’t take a rematch with Ben Askren, he does have other options. Earlier this week, Jake Paul alleged that ‘Gamebred’ was planning to sign a boxing rematch with Nate Diaz. Although, that hasn’t been confirmed by either of the former UFC fighters as of now.
What do you make of these comments? Do you want to see Ben Askren vs. Jorge Masvidal 2? Who do you have in that potential matchup?
Topics:
Ben Askren Jorge Masvidal UFC
