Robbie Lawler analyzes Ben Askren’s loss to Jorge Masvidal at UFC 239.
Jorge Masvidal’s highlight reel, five-second knockout of Ben Askren at UFC 239 has taken the MMA world by storm, and just about everybody has had their say on the matter.
The latest fighter to chime in is Askren’s former opponent, Robbie Lawler, who almost KO’d ‘Funky’ at UFC 235 but was ultimately submitted with a bulldog choke in the first round.
“It was a rough fight but Masvidal’s my buddy so I was excited for him,” Lawler of the matchup in a recent appearance on Ebro in the Morning (h/t Abhinav Kini of The Body Lock MMA).
Masvidal, who surged into the official top-three welterweight rankings and set the record for the fastest KO in UFC history, has come under fire for mocking Askren in his UFC 239 post-fight celebration but, the way ‘Ruthless’ sees it, Askren had it coming.
“I know Askren runs his mouth and when you run your mouth, stuff like this happens,” Lawler explained. “When someone is running their mouth, then you gotta fight. I’m an old school guy where I don’t think Masvidal did anything wrong. He was celebrating, he handled himself as a professional.
“If you don’t want somebody to dance on top of you, you don’t get beat up, you don’t run your mouth.”
With the win, Masvidal is expected to challenge Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title later this year, although nothing has been made official.
As for Lawler, the former UFC welterweight champ will look to spring back into the winners column when he takes on Colby Covington at UFC on ESPN 5. The event takes place next month, Aug. 3 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.