Ben Askren reacts to Jorge Masvidal’s KO loss at UFC 261: ‘If you fight long enough, sh*t happens’

Ben Askren has been on the receiving end of a memorable knockout or two in his career and knows what old foe Jorge Masvidal is going through right about now.

Masvidal was knocked out by Kamaru Usman in the second round of Saturday night’s UFC 261 championship headliner in Jacksonville, Fla., which was only the second time in Masvidal’s 50-fight career he was finished due to strikes, and the first since 2008.

“Gamebred” delivered one of the sport’s all-time great finishes against Askren—a five-second flying knee KO—at UFC 239 in July 2019. “Funky,” who was also stopped by Jake Paul at the Triller boxing event a week prior, gave his reaction to the welterweight championship rematch on social media Sunday morning.

With the loss, Masvidal has lost two straight fights—both to Usman—and is 3-4 over his past seven appearances. Arguably the Fighter of the Year in 2019, Masvidal earned stoppage wins over Askren, Darren Till and Nate Diaz in a less than eight-month span.

Askren retired from mixed martial arts competition after a submission loss to Demian Maia in October 2019 and went on to have major hip surgery this past September before fighting Paul in his pro boxing debut earlier this month. While Askren plans on getting back on the wrestling mats, he told MMA Fighting in November that a return to MMA is highly unlikely, but if the right offer came along, he may consider it.