Askren Had ‘Hilarious’ Hospital Moment With Rockhold

Ben Askren might not remember his fight with Jorge Masvidal, but he remembers the aftermath.

At UFC 239 in July 2019, Askren found himself on the wrong side of history, absorbing a record-setting five-second flying knee from Jorge Masvidal (watch highlights). Directly before the loss, former UFC Middleweight titlist, Luke Rockhold, suffered a rough knockout of his own against Jan Blachowicz.

Askren still has no recollection of the fight whatsoever or leaving the arena. What he does remember, however, was a meeting with Rockhold later in the evening.

“My first recollection there was — this is hilarious — I sit up and I see Luke Rockhold, and I’m like, ‘F—k, that’s Luke Rockhold. That means I’m in the hospital,’” Askren told The MMA Hour. “That was what I thought, because I knew he already got knocked out by Jan Blachowicz. And I sit up and I’m like, ‘What’s Luke Rockhold doing here? F—k, I’m in the hospital.’ And then I looked and I saw my wife was over here, so I’m like, ‘What happened?’ And she’s like, ‘It wasn’t good.’ I’m not sweaty, I could feel like I’m not sweaty at all, I’m not sore, I didn’t hurt at all, so it was like, I must not have been in a hard fight or nothing. I kind of knew that.”

Askren only fought one more time after his devastating Masvidal loss. Undefeated before that, “Funky” battled Demian Maia in Kallang, Singapore, coming up short via third round rear-naked choke (watch highlights).

Rockhold has also retired since UFC 239, fighting as recently as UFC 278 in Aug. 2020. Rockhold suffered a unanimous decision loss to Paulo Costa (watch highlights), but left fans with some unforgettable sequences in a relatively wild fight that earned Fight of the Night honors.