Ben Askren wouldn’t hesitate to come out of retirement and run things back with Jorge Masvidal.
Masvidal (35-17 MMA, 12-10 UFC) recently tweeted “unretired,” hinting that he plans on returning to competition after announcing his retirement at UFC 287 in April 2023. Askren believes the motivation is that “Gamebred” likely needs money, even though he currently runs multiple promotions.
“I mean, probably because he ain’t got no more money,” Askren said on Cormier’s YouTube channel. “That’s my best guess. People spend it. Mike Tyson spent $400,000,000.”
Masvidal handed Askren his first-career loss when he knocked him out with a flying knee in a record five seconds at UFC 239 in 2019. Askren has been eager to get his revenge but certainly not in the boxing ring after getting knocked out in the first round by Jake Paul in 2021.
“Listen, if Dana called me and said, ‘Ben, Jorge Masvidal, UFC 300, International Fight Week,’ I don’t give a damn, I’m out of retirement,” Askren said. “I’ll fight him. I don’t care. … Yeah (only in MMA). I suck at boxing. You guys all saw that. I’m not going to fight him in boxing. Are you dumb? I’m not good at boxing.”
Askren won’t hold his breath. He’s not about to beg for the rematch, but if his phone rings with an offer, he’ll be there.
“I want to fight this guy, but he’ll never say yes to that unless maybe he loses some more money or something,” Askren said. “It would be great. I would love to. But you know what? It’s one of those things kind of like what you said about Michael (Chandler).
“It’s like, I don’t want to be begging and groveling for it. I mean, it’s unlikely to happen. If someone calls me and says it’s going to happen, OK, I’m there. If they don’t, I’m just going to live my life.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.
