Ben Askren and Jorge Masvidal verbally agree to fight at UFC 239

Badlefthook.com

Sorry Leon Edwards, you’ll have to wait.

According to MMA Fighting’s Marc Raimondi, top welterweights Ben Askren and Jorge Masvidal have verbally agreed to fight each other at the upcoming UFC 239 pay-per-view in Las Vegas.

The match-up was first reported by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani on Friday.

Both fighters have been sniping at each on social media, and ‘Funky’ continued the trash talk just moments after the fight was was reported.

Ben Askren✔@Benaskren

I’m glad Jorge found his courage.9,601 10:21 PM – Mar 29, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy 983 people are talking about this

“I’m glad Jorge found his courage,” Askren tweeted earlier today.

Askren, the former ONE FC and Bellator welterweight champion, surged into the UFC’s top-five welterweight rankings after submitting Robbie Lawler in his Octagon debut at UFC 235. The win was somewhat tarnished, though, after video footage revealed Lawler didn’t tap out and was, in fact, fully conscious. Referee Herb Dean stopped the bout after believing ‘Ruthless’ to be unconscious, but the MMA veteran gave the thumbs up to signal that he was okay.

As for Masvidal, the former Miami-based street fighter recently broke into the top-four after his stunning knockout win over Liverpool England’s Darren Till at UFC Fight Night 147. Prior to that, the 34-year-old dropped back-to-back losses to Demian Maia and Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson.

UFC 239, which features a headlining light heavyweight championship tilt between Jon Jones and Thiago Santos, takes place later this year, July 6 at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.