Morning Report | Ben Askren, Jorge Masvidal break down life-changing UFC 239 flying knee knockout: ‘Never, ever seen anyone do it like that’
MMA Fighting • • sports
Key Points:
- At UFC 239 in July 2019, Jorge Masvidal delivered a flying knee knockout to Ben Askren in just five seconds, significantly boosting Masvidal's career and leading to UFC title opportunities while marking Askren's final MMA fight before retirement.
- In a recent discussion on Masvidal’s Death Row MMA show, Askren praised Masvidal's unique flying knee technique, noting he had never seen such a running trajectory and was caught completely off guard by the move.
- Masvidal revealed he studied Askren’s wrestling style extensively and intentionally used the flying knee as a calculated risk to disrupt Askren’s typical takedown attempts, which paid off spectacularly.
- Prior to the knockout, Askren was undefeated in MMA with a dominant grappling style, making the sudden KO one of the most shocking moments in combat sports history.
- Both fighters reflected on the knockout as a perfect storm of strategy and execution, highlighting the importance of Masvidal’s change-of-pace technique and Askren’s split-second misjudgment.
