Following claims from former undisputed welterweight title challenger, Jorge Masvidal that his eight month retirement from combat sports is no more, former opponent, Ben Askren has offered to follow suit and fight the Floridian in a rematch at UFC 300 in April.
Askren, a former undisputed ONE Championship and Bellator MMA champion, called time on his mixed martial arts career back in late 2019, after suffering a submission loss to common-foe and former UFC title challenger, Demian Maia in a main event clash in Singapore.
As for Masvidal, the former two-time welterweight title challenger and inaugural symbolic BMF championship winner, called time on his storied mixed martial arts career back in April, following a fourth consecutive loss in the form of a unanimous decision defeat to former title chaser, Gilbert Burns.
However, just eight months later, Masvidal, over the course of the weekend, claimed he was now “unretired” from combat sports competition, leading to speculation that the Miami native is lining up either a UFC comeback or a professional boxing rematch against former foe, Nate Diaz.
Ben Askren suggests UFC 300 return with Jorge Masvidal
And recently offering to make a return against Iowa rival, Askren in a rematch of their UFC 239 clash back in the summer of 2019, Masvidal has again been approached with the idea of a re-run – by Askren himself, who suggested a potential UFC 300 showdown in April.
“I mean, probably because he (Jorge Masvidal) ain’t got no more money,” Ben Askren told Daniel Cormier during a recent interview. “That’s my best guess. People spend it. Mike Tyson spent $400,000,000.”
“Listen, if Dana (White) called me and said, ‘Ben, Jorge Masvidal, UFC 300,’ I don’t give a damn, I’m out of retirement,” Ben Askren continued. “I’ll fight him, I don’t care. I suck at boxing. You guys all saw that. I’m not gonna fight him in boxing. What are you? Dumb?”
Who wins in a future rematch? Ben Askren or Jorge Masvidal?