Ben Askren Is Going To Destroy Jorge Masvidal and Other UFC 239 Predictions

UFC 239 is another stacked card for the premier brand in mixed martial arts. Despite having a plethora of talent on the roster, they only make cards this good 3-4 times a year, so this card is definitely one to look forward to. Now that it's fight week, I keep hearing more and more analysis that is absolutely awful, and I felt I needed to say something since things are getting out of hand.

Ben Askren is going to whoop Jorge Masvidal's ass on Saturday night. The only question is whether Masvidal survives three rounds.

I'm absolutely baffled that you could look at these two fighters and what they have done in the past and come to any other conclusion besides that one. Ben Askren's past is simple. He takes fools down and wears their asses out for as long as it takes. He has done that to EVERYONE he has faced. Now, Askren has not faced the best competition, but he hasn't faced slouches either. He beat Douglas Lima whose only losses in the last ten yars have been to Askren, Rory MacDonald, and Andrey Koreshkov, which he avenged by beating Koreshkov twice. Oh, and Koreshkov's only losses in his career are to Lima and Askren. The Askren loss sets new standards for egregious as Askren got the TKO in the fourth round while outstriking Lima 248 to 3. That is not a typo.

Meanwhile, Masvidal is on quite the hot streak of winning a grand total of one fight in a row. In fact, you can go back three fights, and he only has one win in that time as he lost his previous two before knocking out Darren Till. He got outstruck by Stephen Thompson, and before that, he got outgrappled by Demian Maia. The Maia fight is the most instructive as Maia was able to continually get takedowns on Masvidal. In analysis, people keep giving credit to Masvidal for his wrestling, but if he can't stop a Maia takedown, what the hell is he going to do against Askren? It would be generous to say Maia, who has developed a nice wrestling game for MMA, is half the wrestler that Askren is. Maybe 1/5, but I'm thinking he's more in the 10-15% as good as the man known as Funky.

But don't worry, Masvidal's coach tweeted that Jorge has a friend that wrestles, with a video of him and Yoel Romero play wrestling in a small room. I mean, that's great and all, but just because I have a friend who is a pharmacist doesn't mean that I can start writing prescriptions.

I think my favorite analysis was a guy who said that he'd pick Masvidal in a five-round fight, because he'd be able to wear Askren down by then which is about as insane of a take as I have seen this year. Askren's whole style is wearing his opponent down, and he has never shown any signs of fatigue in any match he's been in. I don't think there is any activity that Masvidal could wear down Askren in.

Like any fight, Masvidal has a puncher's chance, but even that is a reach, because he's not really a knockout guy as he's more a pressure fighter than a single knockout blow. Bet on Askren and reap the rewards on Sunday morning.

As for the title fights, Jon Jones is a fairly easy pick against, well, anyone, and Thiago Santos does not seem to present much of a threat to him.

The Amanda Nunes fight could be more interesting than people think. Nunes has run through a lot of people, but she does gas out, and Holly Holm knows how to make fights long and boring. Holm has been so hesitant to pull the trigger in fights that I still have a hard time seeing her win the fight, but I do think she can go the distance.

As for the last two fights on the main card, I say Luke Rockhold knocks out Jan Blachowicz in his light heavyweight debut. And Diego Sanchez is a total psycho, but he might be a full decade past his prime at this point so I think Michael Chiesa finishes him in the second round.

Also, one of my favorite fighters ever, Gilbert Melendez is fighting on this card, but he might be even more done than Diego Sanchez. I'm hoping for a surprise performance from the former Strikeforce Champion, but my brain has trouble seeing a path to victory for him.