Jorge Masvidal Explains Why He Was Sure He’d KO Ben Askren

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Jorge Masvidal KO Ben Askren
Jul 6, 2019; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Jorge Masvidal (red gloves) punches Ben Askren (blue gloves) as referee Jason Herzog stops the fight at T-Mobile Arena. Jorge Masvidal set a new record for the fastest knockout in UFC history with five seconds. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports ORG XMIT: USATSI-402111 ORIG FILE ID: 20190706_jcd_cs1_145.JPG

Jorge Masvidal has revealed that he was very confident he’d knock out Ben Askren with a flying knee at UFC 239.

After a highlight-reel knockout win against Darren Till at UFC London in 2019, Masvidal faced former Bellator and ONE Championship titleholder, Askren. The build-up to their fight was intense, and Askren’s outspokenness irked Masvidal to the point that he promised to punish him with a brutal knockout, which is exactly what he did when the two locked horns at UFC 239, where five seconds into the fight, Masvidal charged towards Askren and blasted his arch-rival with a flying knee. The fight was over before it even began.

Jorge Masvidal On Ben Askren

In a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast (as transcribed by BJPenn.com), Masvidal said that he knew he’d knock Askren out.

“When I saw him face-to-face every time and it was straight my IQ versus yours and my improvisation versus your improvisation,” Masvidal said. “Maybe you have been thinking about some stupid s*** for like a month and you will say it to me now. But he froze every single time, there were a lot of encounters we had off-camera. Every single time, it was unscripted like that, just spur of the moment, couldn’t keep it together. I was like, I not only need to run at him, but I need to have a change of speed because that is going to make him go to his natural crotch-sniffing instincts.

“If I just change the speed on him, he is going to f***ing duck. That is why I came out slow, cut the little angle and let him oh okay we are going to circle it up. As soon as I change speed what does he do? Go to his f***ing initial instincts as a crotch sniffer. Go sniff the crotch. Instead, you are going to kiss this knee goodbye, though.”

Masvidal will make his return to the Octagon at UFC 287, where he faces a tough test in Gilbert Burns.

Who do you think will win between Jorge Masvidal and Gilbert Burns?