UFC 239 featured two title fights, but it was Jorge Masvidal who stole the show during the pay-per-view main card. Askren entered his bout against former Bellator and ONE welterweight champion Ben Askren with plenty of bad blood, and he didn’t need long to send a clear message to the rest of the 170-pound division.
Masvidal took two steps to his right when the fight began, before charging at Askren and delivering a perfectly timed and placed flying knee that immediately separated Askren from consciousness and handed him the first loss of his career.
The knockout took just five seconds, a new UFC record for fastest knockout in history.
Of course, plenty of fans were saying that Masvidal’s quick knockout was a lucky shot or that it was simply a fluke. But a video from Masvidal’s coach at American Top Team, former WEC champion Mike Brown, shows another story.
Masvidal spent plenty of time training the exact technique — which included the sidesteps. That led to a perfect foreshadowing of his finish just 48 hours before the cage doors were locked behind him
The start to the fight went exactly as Masvidal, his trainers, and teammates at American Top Team had planned.
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) July 7, 2019
Mike brown and masvidal told me last night at dinner he was gonna Start this fight with a flying knee and showed me video on Mike's phone of him practicing
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) July 7, 2019
And here is the actual finish.
Masvidal absolutely destroyed Ben Askren at UFC 239. I've never seen anything like this before. The fight was over before I even blinked. https://t.co/ktl3GqWG7U
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) July 7, 2019
Take a bow, Jorge.
The full results from UFC 239 can be seen below.
UFC 239 Results
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10:00 p.m. ET)
- Jon Jones def. Thiago Santos via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47) for the light heavyweight title
- Amanda Nunes def. Holly Holm via TKO (head kick, punches) – Round 1, 4:10 for the women’s bantamweight title
- Jorge Masvidal def. Ben Askren via KO (flying knee) – Round 1, 0:05
- Jan Blachowicz def. Luke Rockhold via KO (punches) – Round 2, 1:39
- Michael Chiesa def. Diego Sanchez via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Arnold Allen def. Gilbert Melendez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Marlon Vera def. Nohelin Hernandez via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:25
- Claudia Gadelha def. Randa Markos via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Song Yadong def. Alejandro Perez via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 2:04
- Edmen Shahbazyan def. Jack Marshman via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:12
- Chance Rencountre def. Ismail Naurdiev via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 30-27)
- Julia Avila def. Pannie Kianzad via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
