Ben Askren slams “delusional” Diaz ahead of “simple” Masvidal fight

Ben Askren isn’t in a hurry to make friends in the UFC.

Ahead of UFC 239, where he faces long time veteran Jorge Masvidal in a bout that very well could send the winner shooting up the rankings, he recently spoke with MMA Fighting.

In regards to Masvidals skill set, Askren certainly wasn’t impressed,

“I think it’s pretty easy,” Askren explained. “He’s simple right? He’s got good hands but his wrestling’s not great. His jiu-jitsu’s not great. His strength is not great. His cardio’s not great. So when you break it down like that, it becomes pretty simple.”

He also went on at length, speaking about Nate Diaz, who recently made the move up to welterweight for a bout with Anthony Pettis. Askren doesn’t see any potential threats in Diaz, who se he’s as plain “delusional”.

“For what it’s worth, he does a great job making people interested in him. It’s a funny thing because to me he comes off as fairly unintelligent and he says some crazy shit,” Askren said about Diaz. “Like where he said he’s the king of lightweights. It’s kind of funny. In a little demented way, he believes it even though there’s no way it’s close to actually being true. In the same way that a lot of people do, I find it entertaining and in another way it’s like holy shit this guy is out of his damn mind.

“He is not a threat in the slightest bit to the welterweight division. I think we’re getting down to the point where he’s just delusional.”

Askren made his much anticipated UFC-debut in March this year, taking on former welterweight champ Robbie Lawler. Despite absorbing substantial punishment early on, Askren rallied and managed to secure a bulldog choke on his opponent, who appeared to go limp before tapping. Referee Herb Dean stopped the bout, though Lawler wasn’t unconscious.

The bout was still ruled a submission victory for Askren, though a controversial one. Masvidal enters the fight coming off of a brutal knockout win over Darren Till.