LAS VEGAS – The most hyped grudge match heading into UFC 239 ended in the fastest and perhaps most violent knockout in the history of the UFC.
Veteran welterweight Jorge Masvidal used a hellacious flying knee coming out of the gate to knock Ben Askren cold in their main-card bout at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night.
The time of the stoppage officially was at the 0:05 mark of the opening round. That beat, by one second, Duane Ludwig’s record, set in a victory over Jonathan Goulet in 2006.
“I really wanted to beat his ass for 14 minutes and 30 seconds, but it didn’t happen, so back to business,” Masvidal said.
Masvidal (34-13 MMA, 11-6 UFC), with his hands behind his back, came out at an odd angle and charged at Askren (19-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), who attempted to duck under it.
Instead, the knee landed flush on Askren’s ear, knocking him stiff to the mat. Masvidal landed two more punches to the clearly unconscious Askren before the referee could step in and wave things off.
Masvidal taunted Askren as doctors rushed into the cage to attend to his foe, with whom he had engaged in quite a bit of trash talk leading up to the fight.
“That dude was talking wild, man,” Masvidal said. “I have to show you there’s consequences sometimes, there’s some bad (expletive) out there.”
The victory was by far the biggest in the career of Masvidal, a longtime presence on the scene who is finally breaking through to the top. He’s won two straight, both by knockout, and five of his past seven.
It also marked the first career loss for Askren, the former Bellator and ONE welterweight titleholder. After regaining consciousness, Askren left the cage under his own power.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 239 results include:
- Jorge Masvidal def. Ben Askren via KO (flying knee) – Round 1, 0:05
- Michael Chiesa def. Diego Sanchez via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
- 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)
For complete coverage of UFC 239, check out the UFC results.
