It’s no surprise that Jorge Masvidal was keen to stick the boot in after watching his former friend turned enemy Colby Covington get TKO’d by Kamaru Usman at UFC 245 this past weekened, but he also dished out some unexpected praise for Ben Askren too.
“They say never kick a man when he is down but you not a man,” Masvidal told Covington on Twitter. “Should’ve paid my coach, it’s cheaper than getting your jaw wired shut #thecrucifixation.”
However, then came a rare moment of solidarity with another former rival, Ben Askren.
“Shout out to @Benaskren who never tucked tail after his loss,” Masvidal wrote. “Made no excuses. Took it on the chin and never censored the haters like a coward #theresurrection.”
The mark of respect triggered a quick response from the man in question.
“Sometimes life kicks your butt when you least expect it,” Askren replied. “Make no excuses and move on.”
However, when ESPN’s Ariel Helwani then suggested on Twitter that Masvidal and Askren seemed to be ending the year as friends, the former Olympic wrestler begged to differ.
“I wouldn’t take it that far,” Askren responded.
As for Covington, it was confirmed on Saturday night that he had indeed broken his jaw, though it wasn’t the worst kind of fracture he could have suffered, instead dealing with a ‘non-displaced midline mandible fracture,’ which likely will heal quicker than a displaced facture would have.
Still, it should keep Covington out of the Octagon for some time, and by the looks of things he’s not in any hurry to return to his usual motor-mouthed antics on social media in the wake of his seven-fight winning streak coming to an abrupt end.
