Masvidal and Askren?s rivalry has become personal, but Askren believes that Masvidal is simply jealous of all the success he has had.
?If I had to put words into his mouth for him, I would say he?s pissed that a punk white kid has came into the UFC and is making over double him and I?ve had no history in the UFC,? Askren said on Ariel Helwani?s MMA Show (via Fernando Quiles Jr. of MMA News). "And so in his head that?s unjust and he doesn?t like that and that?s unfair. To that I would say, well listen there?s a reason I made my brand so valuable and there?s a reason I get paid what I do. And if you look at any type of metrics, which you have Ariel so you can verify this for me, my numbers are looking pretty damn good Jorge so suck it.?
Askren has just competed once under the UFC banner, while previously holding titles in One Championship and Bellator MMA. Masvidal has competed a total of sixteen times in the UFC and has yet to hold any gold as a professional MMA fighter.
UFC 239 takes place on Saturday, July 6 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Jon Jones and Thiago Santos headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.