‘Someone Had To Pull the Trigger’- Ben Askren Reacts to Jorge Masvidal vs Kamaru Usman Rematch Announcement

The UFC has booked a huge pay-per-view at UFC 261 as Kamaru Usman will defend his welterweight title against Jorge Masvidal in a rematch between the duo. However, before we head into the titanic clash, Masvidal’s former opponent Ben Askren took to Twitter to respond to that news.

The UFC 261 pay-per-view will also see two other title fights go down. Valentina Shevchenko will defend her flyweight belt against Jessica Andrade. Zhang Weili will defend her strawweight title against Rose Namajunas. Also, fans will be back in the stands for the first UFC pay-per-view in the United States.

The April 24th card will take place in Jacksonville, Florida with  15000 fans expected to be in attendance for the event. And with 3 title fights booked, the UFC is doing their best to capitalize on the event. ‘Funky’ has appreciated the company’s efforts as he believes there has to be some major action backstage to book such a grand event.

“Damn someone had to pull the trigger. Wow,” wrote Askren on Twitter. Despite being retired from the UFC, ‘Funky’ has kept a close eye on the latest news in his former division. Interestingly enough, it was Askren’s fight against him that gave ‘Gamebred’ the star status he is enjoying today. The 5-second flying-knee knockout at UFC 239 is still fresh in fans’ memory.

Interestingly, Askren will also be in action a week prior to his former opponent’s fight. ‘Funky‘ will make his professional Boxing debut as he fights ‘The Problem Child‘ Jake Paul on April 17th.

Does Jorge Masvidal deserve another shot at the title?

Many fans argued that Masvidal was not deserving of another shot at the title. He hasn’t fought since his UFC 251 loss to Usman. Also, Colby Covington has been campaigning for his rematch against ‘The Nigerian Nightmare‘.

Notably, ‘Chaos‘ picked up an impressive win against Tyron Woodley which catapulted him into the title picture.

However, in Masvidal’s defense, he saved the UFC 251 pay-per-view by stepping up on 6 days’ notice. So, it’s only fitting he gets an opportunity with a full training camp. He certainly has the ability to trouble the champion with better conditioning this term. How the fight plays out this term remains to be seen.

What did you make of Ben Askren’s reaction? Will we have a new welterweight champion at UFC 261?