Ben Askren has picked his former opponent, Jorge Masvidal, as his Fighter of the Year for 2019.
In, arguably, one of the greatest knockouts of all-time, Masvidal finished Askren with a flying knee just five seconds into their welterweight clash at UFC 239 last July.
It was the fastest knockout in the UFC history, surpassing Duane Ludwig’s six-second finish of Jonathan Goulet at a UFC Fight Night in 2006.
Masvidal’s brutal finish of Askren was just one of his three massive wins earned last year.
He also silenced the home crowd at UFC London by putting Darren Till to sleep. In November, he captured the ‘baddest motherf***er’ belt after defeating Nate Diaz at UFC 244.
With these huge feats, ‘Funky’ is giving the credit to ‘Gamebred’ as he believes he deserves the ‘Fighter of the Year’ honor.
Deserving
In a recent interview with ESPN, the former ONE Championship and Bellator welterweight titlist said it would be disingenuous if he doesn’t give the recognition to Masvidal.
“I’d like to pick Israel Adesanya over him, but I think – I feel like that would be disingenuous,” Askren claimed, (transcript from MMA Junkie).
“If I have to look at it from a non-biased perspective, it’s freakin’ Jorge, and if you said that was going to happen a year ago, everyone would have said ‘You’re on drugs,’ or have some type of issue.”
“But unfortunately, I think he deserves it.”
Asked about the impact of the devastating knockout, Askren said it doesn’t give him hard feelings towards Masvidal.
“It doesn’t hurt me. That’s what it is – that’s the truth. That’s the reality of the situation: It doesn’t hurt at all.”
“Now, does it feel good? No, it doesn’t feel good, either. But it’s not … that’s what happened.”
Retired
Unfortunately, Askren would not have the opportunity to avenge his loss to Masvidal as he decided to leave the sport, citing health issues as his main reason.
“I’m retiring from the sport of mixed martial arts,” Askren announced last November on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show.
“I am retired from everything. I was thinking about it when we had last talked. Obviously, it’s been something I’ve been considering.”
“I’ve been having hip problems, and I finally had the discussion with my doctor.”
“I actually got the MRI before my last fight, and I need a hip replacement. Man, that’s it for me.”
“I’ve been thinking about this for a week and what I was going to say.”
“I’ve been filled with gratitude for how great of a career I’ve been able to have, even though obviously in the end, it did not turn out to go my way.”
(Featured Image Source: YouTube/ BT Sport and ESPN)