Jorge Masvidal Claims Title Shot Will Follow UFC 239, Ben Askren Responds

The rivalry between top UFC welterweights Jorge Masvidal and Ben Askren is heating up quickly.

The two stars will go to battle at July 6’s anticipated UFC 239 pay-per-view event. And now, there are reportedly some much higher stakes attached to the fight.

Speaking on today’s episode of ‘Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show’ (via Chamatkar Sandhu), ‘Gamebred’ claimed the UFC promised him a title shot if he can beat Askren:

Jorge Masvidal tells @arielhelwani the UFC have told him if he beats Ben Askren he will get the next title shot at 170lbs.#HelwaniShow Link:https://t.co/IK7xE0M9Lw

— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) April 22, 2019

Askren quickly caught wind of the claim. ‘Funky’ responded with his own version of why Masvidal accepted a fight with him:

Well they had to dangle some type of Carrot to get him to agree to take a beating. https://t.co/jMwBQkkrxm

— Funky (@Benaskren) April 22, 2019

Masvidal shocked the MMA world by knocking out fan favorite Darren Till at UFC London last month. He then furthered his own scope of attention by tagging Leon Edwards with the now-infamous ‘three-piece and a soda’ backstage. Masvidal’s stock couldn’t be much higher at this point in time.

The same could be said for Askren. He’s absolutely dominated many MMA headlines since getting traded to the UFC from ONE Championship last fall. His win over Robbie Lawler in his UFC debut at UFC 235 was much more contested and controversial than Masvidal’s latest victory, however.

Either way, the winner of the fight looks to be next to take on the winner of the upcoming Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington title bout.