Askren.......OUCH!

[MSU158 1,298]

Fastest KO in UFC history.  I was afraid he was too long in the tooth by the time he got into the UFC. Think this confirmed that while also making the snake Dana White rather happy. 

Time to hang em up and get back into wrestling full time. Hopefully he sees that. 

Edited July 7 by MSU158

[ohcomeon 57]

That was difficult to watch.

[Perry 956]

There is a reason Dana waited so long to get askren in the ufc, he waited until he was well out of his prime for this exact reason

[russelscout 1,030]

That strike has nothing to do with Askrens age. That is a one in a million shot by Masvidal.

[ohcomeon 57]

1 minute ago, Perry said:

There is a reason Dana waited so long to get askren in the ufc, he waited until he was well out of his prime for this exact reason

Idk.. what would Ben have done differently in his prime? He tried to wrestle and got kneed in the head.. brutally.

[matts1w 49]

Isnt MMA 101 to really take care to set up your shots so one doesnt take a massive fist or knee to the face?  He just dropped in there head down and hands down... 

It was scary.   I really hope Ben is OK.  That made my stomach turn.  

Edited July 7 by matts1w

[Katie 614]

Brett Okamoto is reporting that Askren was taken to a hospital. I hope Askren's okay.

Edited July 7 by Katie

[pamela 962]

Didn't he take some really nasty blows to the head in his last fight? I didn't see it but remember people here mentioning it. The five second KO might have been a fluke but maybe it's time for Ben Askren to think about his future. I don't want him to be a vegetable by age 40.

[russelscout 1,030]

I hate to even say this, but I dont think I can get on board with MMA anymore. I have only been the most casual of fans in the first place  but was starting to be a little more interested the last couple years. I respect that Masvidal made a great strategic decision, but I dont want to end up watching and applauding when someone dies in the octagon some day. I have had a hard time seeing someone celebrating in someone's face as they are blacked out after devastating blows(happens more often than just tonight). I never thought I would say this, and maybe it's me getting older but damn, I think it's too brutal for me.

[MadMardigain 1,021]

12 minutes ago, Katie said:

Brett Okamoto is reporting that Askren was taken to a hospital. I hope Askren's okay.

Pretty standard procedure to take them to get evaluated when you knocked out like that.  But yes hopefully he as good as can be expected. 

[IronChef 566]

Time to hang em up and get back into wrestling full time. Hopefully he sees that. 

Are you suggesting that nearly 35 year old Ben Askren try to become a competitive wrestler again almost ten years after his last meaningful match?

[wrestlingnerd 2,363]

4 minutes ago, russelscout said:

I have had a hard time seeing someone celebrating in someone's face as they are blacked out after devastating blows(happens more often than just tonight).

That was quite bush league of Masvidal. 

[MadMardigain 1,021]

I don’t think you can really blame Askren’s age, preparation, or talent for that flying knee right off the bell hitting him just right.  It’s a flash knockout that happens to all sorts of top guys.  Only thing you could say is he or his camp should have been more aware of the warning signs that a flying knee would be coming early.  Apparently there was all sorts of pre-fight coverage of him practicing knees and chatter of him wanting to throw a knee if Ben went for a TD.  Sometimes it’s worth actually worrying what your opponents plan is.  Ben’s always been touted as guy that would hover around the #5 spot in the UFC, I don’t think that changes much with this type of ending.  But yes due to this loss at his age time is running out for him to get back in title contention.  

Edited July 7 by MadMardigain

[MadMardigain 1,021]

1 hour ago, wrestlingnerd said:

That was quite bush league of Masvidal. 

True, although with all the smack talk Ben put out about Masvidal you has you expect him to celebrate with a chip on his shoulder.  Not the most respectable action to a KO’ed opponent, but I’m not surprised after hearing about the buildup.  If Ben wants to play the bad guy role and run his mouth that’s his choice, however you have to expect some of that may get throw back at you when things go south in the fight.  

Edited July 7 by MadMardigain

[wrestlingnerd 2,363]

The smack talk is fight buildup. It's literally good for Masvidal because it gets more viewers. When you hurt an opponent's brain with unknowable damage, a decent human being does not do what he did. It's one thing to celebrate when Ben gets up and very much another to do what he did when Ben could've turned into a vegetable and nobody would've been too surprised.

[Cooch1 114]

HUMAN **** FIGHTING, AND INTENTIONALLY TRYING TO DAMAGE SOMEONE'S GOD GIVEN THINKING MACHINE. THIS IS 2019? BC?

[dmm53 420]

Askren might just be shopping for a rocking chair next week, when he wakes up.  

Borroughs humbled him pretty badly in wrestling

And well . . . lights out in MMA.

(I hear he is . . . supposedly pretty good in frisbee golf . . . though it is not an Olympic sport and pays nothing

[ConnorsDad 358]

5 hours ago, russelscout said:

That strike has nothing to do with Askrens age. That is a one in a million shot by Masvidal.

Exactly. If he had gotten beaten up for 5 rounds or 3 or however long the match was going to be that would be one thing. That was a one in a million shot. That match tells you nothing about whether he's done or not in the UFC.

[Ultimatepip 31]

3 hours ago, dmm53 said:

Askren might just be shopping for a rocking chair next week, when he wakes up.  

Borroughs humbled him pretty badly in wrestling

And well . . . lights out in MMA.

(I hear he is . . . supposedly pretty good in frisbee golf . . . though it is not an Olympic sport and pays nothing

It's called Disc Golf, and a lot of people make a living by doing it.  But that was hard to watch.

[Ultimatepip 31]

[Boompa 81]

7 hours ago, russelscout said:

I hate to even say this, but I dont think I can get on board with MMA anymore. I have only been the most casual of fans in the first place  but was starting to be a little more interested the last couple years. I respect that Masvidal made a great strategic decision, but I dont want to end up watching and applauding when someone dies in the octagon some day. I have had a hard time seeing someone celebrating in someone's face as they are blacked out after devastating blows(happens more often than just tonight). I never thought I would say this, and maybe it's me getting older but damn, I think it's too brutal for me.

Some thought years ago that MMA's popularity was going to help boost wrestling's numbers.

It hasn't.

We have the same thing going on now with women's wrestling, meanwhile our numbers continue to plummet.  Here in PA, the PIAA has voted to reduce the number of weight classes to 12 which in the short term will help "mask" the problem.  Youth numbers in PA are down almost everywhere.  Local programs are saying they have 40 kids from K-6 when 30 years ago they were pushing over 100.

[Dr. Novak 147]

Lumpy dumpy.  Poor guy doesn't have an athletic bone in his body.

[scribe 1,654]

8 hours ago, IronChef said:

Are you suggesting that nearly 35 year old Ben Askren try to become a competitive wrestler again almost ten years after his last meaningful match?

Yeah. I don’t see what option wrestling holds now outside of coaching. 

[LemonPie 1,360]

Worthless sport enjoyed by a bunch of rubes 

[Chet 31]

Askren brings nothing to the table when it comes to standup and striking. Being a one dimensional wrestler worked for him in the regional circuits, Bellator and One FC. 170 lb fighters in the UFC are at a much higher level and Masvidal just showed how easy it is to dispose of him. What's next for Ben? A fight with Till and more TBI or is he going to hang it up?