Under helgens UFC 239 så var Ben Askren offret för en rekord knockout efter bara 5 sekunder. Jorge Masvidal avslutade Askren med ett flygande knä som knockade Askren medvetslös.
Mindre än 48 timmar senare så uttalade sig Ben Askren för första gången offentligt då han gästade Ariel Helwani´s MMA Show:
I got nothing to hide from. Obviously, mistakes happen, losses happen. Saturday night was definitely not ideal for (me). I got nothing to complain about.
Inte helt otippat så kommer han inte ihåg någonting ifrån själva matchen, han sade att han mindes att han var i buren, men själva knät och allt där efter med vistelsen på sjukhus finns inget minne av:
Saturday night was least traumatizing for me. 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 (expletive), 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.
Han förstod att det hade gått väldigt fort:
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.
Inför själva matchen så var Askren misstänksam att Masvidal skulle försöka sig på något helt galet. I Masvidals tidigare match mot Darren Till så hade han försökt en liknande spring attack när matchen började. Men istället för att börja tålmodigt så bestämde sig Askren för att hålla sig till det som tagit honom dit han är och gick ner på ett nedtagningsförsök:
It’s hard saying it was wrong. It’d be total confirmation bias if I were to say that. And a lot of other people would. But the fact that I’ve been in the cage 19 times, and that kind of technique has worked 19 other times, and it’s never failed me, so now to the one time it fails me, to turn around and say it’s bad technique, I shouldn’t have done it, it was predictable – to say those things obviously would be correct, but it’s confirmation bias.
Efter matchen så fick Askren höra en hel del ifrån både Masvidal men även från folk på sociala medier, ”Funky” sa att han förstod precis varför:
I feel like I probably deserve it. 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.
Det är löjligt att han skulle kört extra hårt pga trash-talket
Det var dock en sak som Askren inte höll med om, det var Masvidals uttalande på presskonferensen efteråt då han sa att Ben Askrens trash-talk var en av orsakerna till det som hände i buren:
One of the moronic things that Jorge is saying is that (I) deserved it because (I) was talking all that trash. If I didn’t say nothing – No. 1, I wouldn’t have gotten the fight. No. 2, not that many people would have been excited about it. No. 3, would you have really tried not to knock me out? Would you have tried to be nice to me and play patty cake with me or paper, scissor, rock or something? No. No matter what happened, you were going to try to knock me out, so why are you saying this narrative that you tried to knock me out because I was talking trash?
Han menar att hela iden är att få den andra att inte kunna fortsätta:
… What we do is a cagefight. The whole point is to incapacitate the opponent into which they cannot compete any longer. So, the idea that he tried to make it worse because I was talking trash is insane. It’s totally ridiculous. It sounds good, and it sounds right. And it sounds like what most people would think, but that’s just not the case. If he is not trying hard against other people because they’re not talking trash, I would probably tell him he should rethink his strategy and try hard against everyone regardless of what they say to him.
Masvidal är nu en av kandidaterna till en titelmatch mot Kamaru Usman. För Ben Askrens del så väntar först en lång medicinsk avstängning innan vi får reda på vem han kommer att möta härnäst?
