Ben Askren has revealed that he would seriously consider a return to MMA if the UFC were to offer him a rematch with Jorge Masvidal.
Speaking to Daniel Cormier on the latest episode of Funky and The Champ, Askren admitted that if the call came from the UFC for the Masvidal bout, he would accept it in a heartbeat.
“If Dana (White) called me and said “Ben, Jorge Masvidal, UFC 300. I don’t give a damn, I am out of retirement, I will fight him, I don’t care. “
When Cormier pushed back asking if Askren would only take the rematch under a mixed martial arts rule set, he quipped:
“Yeah, I suck at boxing. You all saw that, I am not going to fight him in boxing.”
“It would be great, I would love to. It is one of those things kind of like with what you said about Michael (Chandler). I don’t want to be begging and grovelling for it. It’s unlikely it’s going to happen. So, if someone called me and said it is going to happen, okay, I’m there.
“If they don’t, I am just going to live my life.”
The first time they met, the bout ended catastrophically for Askren. After a lengthy build up, the two fought at UFC 239. Just 5 seconds into the fight, ‘Gamebred’ hurled across the cage and launched a flying knee which sent Askren crashing to the mat.
The knockout went viral and fans only got to see Askren compete one more time in the UFC after that, in a bout in which he lost to fellow veteran of the sport Damian Maia via a third round submission.
The conversation arose just days after Masvidal posted a cryptic ‘unretired’ tweet. It led to Cormier speculating as to if Masvidal did return, who he would end up competing against.
“If Jorge Masvidal fights, for me, I believe it is in the UFC. I don’t know who he would fight though.”
Further explaining his point, Cormier alluded to the fact that it would have to be a stern match up for the Florida man, if he was to return to the UFC.
“The problem with going back to the UFC is that he is going to fight someone good because he’s such a veteran, he makes so much money, that he is going to have to fight somebody worth bringing him back for.
“That to me is where I think it would work with you guys.”
It will be interesting to see how everything plays out moving forward and if Masvidal will, once more, make the walk to the cage or if he will entertain another combat sport entirely.
