Chael Sonnen credits UFC 239’s Ben Askren for being a true sportsman.
Former three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen believes his fellow fighters could learn a lot from Ben Askren.
Askren was knocked out with a flying knee just five seconds into last Saturday’s welterweight matchup with Jorge Masvidal, and the former ONE FC and Bellator champ is taking the loss extremely well considering the circumstances.
Askren has candidly joked about the loss on social media and, analyzing the bout on a recent episode of Beyond the Fight, YouTube host Sonnen credited ‘Funky’ for his sportsmanship in defeat.
“I believe it’s because people are seeing the real Ben Askren, which is a guy who likes to go out and entertain,” Sonnen said when discussing Askren’s popularity in defeat (transcript via BJPenn.com). “He likes to antagonize because he understands the business and he understands to get his spot and make sure he has attention, he needs to do a little of that. A guy who makes weight, walks out there, does the heavy lifting, takes on anybody that’s asked of him under any ruleset in any continent in any organization you want to do it in. And then tips his hat at the end of the night likes a sportsman would. No excuses, tip your hat, grab your stuff, shower up and move on.”
Following the bout, Askren dropped four places from #5 to #9 in the official UFC welterweight rankings and longtime coach Duke Roufus would like to see the 34-year-old take a few months off to recover. Expect Askren to return to the Octagon by the end of 2019 at the earliest.