Ben Askren realizes that his antagonizing ways earned him the backlash he got following his UFC 239 loss to Jorge Masvidal.
Jorge Masvidal ended Ben Askren’s night with a flying knee in just five seconds at UFC 239 on Saturday night. For a person that has done as much talking as Askren has throughout his career, it’s hardly surprising that a large segment of fans, and Masvidal himself, have talked a lot of smack since the second that record-setting knee landed.
To his credit, Askren isn’t hiding from the criticism or from the media. He was a guest on The MMA Show on ESPN today, less than 48 hours after getting knocked out badly. And somewhat surprisingly, he says he’s okay physicall. He just doesn’t remember some of the events that went down (transcribed by MMA Junkie):
“Saturday night was least traumatizing for me,” Askren said. “There’s a little part of my memory that’s blank there. I remember being in the cage with him. I don’t really remember the flying knee. Then, when I can recall, I remember everything. Like, ‘Oh sh-t, I lost to Jorge Masvidal. This freaking sucks.’ Everyone else is more worried about me than I’m worried about myself. I didn’t really have any pain of any sort. Not a headache. Nothing on my face hurts.
“So it was just like, ‘Oh, Jesus. I lost to Jorge Masvidal. How did I lose to him? How fast was it?’ I could tell it was pretty fast because I wasn’t sweaty or sore or anything. I knew it was fast. I didn’t know exactly how fast it was. Apparently, I set a record of some sort.”
And when it comes to the criticism, Askren isn’t afraid to admit that he understands why it’s coming his way:
“I feel like I probably deserve it,” Askren said. “I’ve been antagonizing people for almost a decade now, and it never came up on the end of the stick. Now, I’m not reading everything they’re antagonizing me with. I’m just scrolling through it. I don’t want to dwell on that. But fair enough. I always figured that when this point happened, I’d get lit up. I’m not paying attention to it, but I’m sure I’m getting lit up.”