Askren recalls ‘hilarious’ moment of how he found out he got KO’d
‘F—k, that’s Luke Rockhold.’
It was during his second UFC fight when Ben Askren’s career took a twisted turn. It was at UFC 239 in 2019 when the then-undefeated Askren was knocked out by Jorge Masvidal with a flying knee inside five seconds.
That specific moment immediately went viral across social media. But according to “Funky” Ben, he only found out what happened at the hospital. Not because someone told him or showed him a video, but because he was able to piece everything together.
“My first recollection there was — this is hilarious — I sit up and I see Luke Rockhold, and I’m like, ‘F–k, that’s Luke Rockhold. That means I’m in the hospital,’” Askren said in his recent MMA Hour guesting.
“That was what I thought because I knew he already got knocked out by Jan Blachowicz. And I sit up and I’m like, ‘What’s Luke Rockhold doing here? F–k, I’m in the hospital.’ And then I looked and I saw my wife was over here, so I’m like, ‘What happened?’ And she’s like, ‘It wasn’t good.’
“I’m not sweaty, I could feel like I’m not sweaty at all, I’m not sore, I didn’t hurt at all, so it was like, I must not have been in a hard fight or nothing. I kind of knew that.”
Masvidal became a bigger name after that highlight reel KO, but Askren maintains that he should be getting some credit for it.
“Journeyman bum Masvidal became one of the biggest stars in the game. You’re welcome, Jorge. If he doesn’t [appreciate me for that], he’s an ungrateful son of a bitch. How about that?
“He needs to send me a Christmas card every year for the next 20 years. But legit, if he doesn’t, he’s ungrateful. But he probably doesn’t want to give me credit for anything, so suck it, Jorge.”
The 38-year-old Askren (19-2, 1 NC) retired from MMA competition in 2019 after those string of losses in the UFC. He then competed in a pro boxing match with Jake Paul in 2021 and lost via knockout inside two minutes.