Ben Askren Reacts To Jorge Masvidal’s Surge In Popularity

Ben Askren was the talk of the town when he debuted in UFC until he lost Jorge Masvidal. There was a lot of hype behind him since he was undefeated and champion in multiple organizations. Even though he won his first fight against Robbie Lawler in a controversial manner, he had already gained a huge fan following.

It’s safe to say that he was one win away from a title shot against Kamaru Usman. However, he lost his last fight against Jorge Masvidal which derailed his journey to the welterweight championship. Leading to the fight with Masvidal, Askren has started bad blood with Masvidal with his fight promotion. Well, it did cost him dearly when Masvidal knocked him out in 5 seconds.

Jorge Masvidal has been in the fight game for a long time, but he has not received the recognition he deserves until his win against Askren. Masvidal became a prized fighter headlining the biggest UFC fight card of the year at Madison Square Garden and it can not be denied that the win against Askren was the reason for it.

Ben Askren recently appeared on ESPN on Ariel Helwani’s show. When asked about Masvidal’s success after the fight, Askren said that even he did not anticipate it.

Askren said:
“I also did not see it coming. him going into that March fight with Darren Till, barely anyone was even talking about him. he had lost his two previous contests before that. the landscape of MMA can change in heartbeat. it can and it really does very very frequently.”

After the fight with Askren, Masvidal became one of the most popular fighters in UFC. Even Nate Diaz called him out for a fight instead of Conor McGregor. Jorge Masvidal put himself in a good spot after the fight with Askren. He either wanted a title shot or a fight with a big payday. He was even approached by UFC for a title shot before the Nate Diaz fight was made official. Well, Ben Askren does have some good words for Masvidal when he says:

“Since my fight, he has got a lot of media opportunities. he is actually taking advantage of them. he is showing up for them. part of the job. I think him or Nate is going to be a gigantic negotiation piece between Colby or Marty.”

Well, if Jorge Masvidal wins the fight against Nate Diaz it would be difficult to deny him the title shot next. As far as Ben Askren is concerned, he is scheduled to fight Damian Maia in UFC Singapore. Ben Askren needs a couple of win under his belt before he can rally for a title shot and a win against Damian Maia will be a good start for sure.