Ben Askren still marvels at the flying knee that ended his unbeaten run.
Askren joined Jorge Masvidal on Masvidal’s Death Row MMA show to revisit their UFC 239 fight in July 2019. Masvidal knocked Askren out in five seconds, still the fastest knockout in UFC history.
Askren said the angle caught him off guard.
No one threw a flying knee prior to you the way you did it. If you think about this, I was never worried about a flying knee because generally it’s when you’re a little tighter and you come almost straight up at them.
You did more of a jumping trajectory and so I think, in my own head, is I completely misjudge your trajectory because I’d never, ever seen anyone do it like that before.
Askren had never lost in MMA before that night. The two-time NCAA Division I champion had won titles in Bellator and ONE Championship.
Masvidal said he built the plan by studying how Askren reacted at certain ranges.
So I just noticed in a lot of your fights, if all of a sudden you were in a range that you didn’t like, you would shoot or you would find a way to clinch.
If I make it seem like I’m going to punch and close the distance, I think he’ll give me what I want and I can anticipate the shot. That’s why I did the shot, not just jumping like that, but forward, because I wanted you first to feel that I’m close.
Askren said he reacted the way his instincts told him to.
So when I saw you, to your point, I probably said, ‘s—-, he’s getting close,’ drop, drop, takedown. I hadn’t seen the flying knee so that was where I got myself in trouble.
The win sent Masvidal to two UFC welterweight title fights against Kamaru Usman. Askren fought once more, losing to Demian Maia, before retiring.
