Askren Highlights ‘Never Was’ Masvidal’s Title Shot Logic

Jorge Masvidal’s run to title contention was accompanied by a “three-piece and a soda” before a fight that never came.

2019 was the biggest year of “Gamebred’s” mixed martial arts (MMA) career, propelling him to superstardom starting off with a big knockout win over Darren Till in March of that year (watch highlights). Immediately after the event in a backstage post-fight interview with Laura Sanko, Masvidal and fellow top Welterweight contender, Leon Edwards, got into a brief scuffle. Infamously, Edwards found himself on the receiving end of some punches from the former street fighter.

Fast forward to 2022 and Edwards is now the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion after knocking out Kamaru Usman (watch highlights) this past weekend (Aug. 20, 2022). Naturally, Masvidal has now expressed his interest in booking the fight that never was.

Unfortunately for Masvidal, his last three outings have all seen him defeated, having lost two of those in title opportunities against the aforementioned former champion, Usman. Because of that, the logic in justifying a third title shot at this juncture is difficult, as highlighted by one Masvidal’s last wins, Ben Askren.

“Been off the grid camping….. why is not getting a title shot off 3 losses in a row a controversial opinion????” Askren tweeted. “Also I would rather be a has been than a never was. Lastly you can’t avoid someone for 3 years then try to pick a fight once they get a belt.”

Askren’s comment about being a “has been” is in reference to Masvidal’s recent shots at former two-division UFC champion, Daniel Cormier. For the “Funky” one, he is arguably most responsible for Masvidal’s ascent to fame in the sport thanks to their rivalry and the result of a five-second flying knee knockout for “Gamebred” (watch highlights).

A user on Twitter went on to tell Askren it was his fault Masvidal was where he is now before Askren responded saying, “I’ve already apologized lol”