Ben Askren vs Jorge Masvidal close to finalization

Following his big promotional debut victory at UFC 235, ‘Funky’ former Bellator and ONE Championship welterweight king, Ben Askren made it clear who he wanted for his sophomore appearance. And that was the winner of UFC London’s headliner which saw Darren Till face Jorge Masvidal.

The man known as ‘Gamebred’ would end up walking away victorious with the violent second-round knockout over his British opponent.

Despite UFC President Dana White announcing directly after Askren’s win against Robbie Lawler that he wanted to have the two rematch, that won’t be the case as Lawler now is expected to rematch Tyron Woodley.

Therefore setting up the Askren vs Masvidal bout for what’s looking like UFC 239 on July 6 during International Fight Week. The bout was first reported by Talk MMA before a follow up from ESPN’s Ariel Helwani on Friday.

“Jorge Masvidal has verbally agreed to fight Ben Askren on July 6 in Las Vegas, according to sources. UFC wanted June 8 but that date didn’t work for Masvidal. Askren tells me that date works for him, too. Hoping to finalize it shortly.” Helwani’s tweet read.

For Masvidal, the bout with Till was his first since UFC 217 in November 2017 when he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson.

Ironically enough, Askren’s UFC debut also acted as his first fight since around that same time in November when he fought for the final time in ONE Championship as he defended his welterweight title against the lightweight legend, Shinya Aoki. Askren would get the win by TKO in just 57 seconds.

UFC 239 already has its big headliner bouts decided as was announced on Wednesday. And with the event being the UFC’s annual Summer showcase, expect plenty more great fights added to the current line-up.

• Light heavyweight- 205lbs: (C)Jon Jones vs. Thiago Santos
• Bantamweight – 135lbs: (C)Amanda Nunes vs. Holly Holm
• Light heavyweight: Jan Błachowicz vs. Luke Rockhold

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 3/29/2019