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Masvidal Would Slap Askren at Whole Foods; Dana Talks Rockhold Future; More News

Christopher Simpson

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the world of MMA

                           

Jorge Masvidal Says He Would Slap Ben Askren 'at Whole Foods' After 5-Second KO

Jorge Masvidal may have taken just five seconds to knock out Ben Askren at UFC 239 on Saturday, but he warned his opponent "it's not over."

Per Adam D. Martin of BJPenn.com, he said: "It's not over for Ben. If I see that dude at Whole Foods, I'm going to slap that dude up because I don't like him."

Gamebred added that "there's not too many people I've disliked more" after Askren "talked about my manhood, he talked about my culture, my ethnicity. Where do we draw the line?"

Masvidal set a UFC record when he took out Askren with a flying knee just seconds into the contest (U.S. only):

The 34-year-old (34-13) said he hoped the fight would have continued longer so he could inflict more damage on his opponent (warning: contains profanity):

He denied the pair have "beef" with one another, though:

The defeat was the first of Askren's career, taking his record to 19-1. It would come as little surprise if he were hoping for a rematch so the pair might have a proper contest in the Octagon, and perhaps Masvidal would relish the chance to have another shot at Askren, too.

                    

Dana White Urges Luke Rockhold to Retire After Jan Blachowicz Defeat

It's fair to say Luke Rockhold's light heavyweight debut did not go as planned after he suffered a broken jaw in his second-round knockout by Jan Blachowicz, and UFC President Dana White wants to see him call time on his career:

Per MMA Fighting's Damon Martin, he said:

"I think Luke Rockhold should talk about hanging it up. He broke his jaw tonight. So that's the second broken jaw. He's been knocked out viciously a few times here. Shin is all banged up. He had to get a skin graft and all kinds of stuff.

"He's had a good career. He's been a great fighter. I'd like to see him hang it up."

ESPN's Brett Okamoto felt for Rockhold after the defeat:

Rockhold, 34, has lost three of his last four fights.

After taking more than a year out after losing his middleweight title to Michael Bisping in 2016, that means he has won just once since he took the belt off Chris Weidman in 2015.

He'll face a lengthy recovery time following his injuries on Saturday, and it could be wise for him to use that time to give thought to his future in the sport.

                   

Thiago Santos Had Knee Surgery Before Jon Jones Loss

Thiago Santos put in an impressive performance in his split-decision defeat to Jon Jones on Saturday, and his showing was all the more remarkable given he produced it while recovering from knee surgery.

Per MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz, coach Tata Duarte revealed after the defeat that Santos had beaten Blachowicz in February with a torn meniscus and had surgery soon after he agreed to fight Jones:

"The camp started with a 45-day delay and Thiago only had two months to prepare for this fight, but still didn't want to pull out. The doctor gave us a timeline but we had a problem later. Heather [Linden], physical therapist of the UFC, was the one who recovered his knee. She was at UFC 237 in Rio and kept working on his knee for six days straight and found out what the problem was and was able to fix it. That's when he started his camp.

"We told him, 'Thiago, let’s pull out of the fight,' and he said, 'No, I won't pull out.' He didn't want to. We did this camp in two months. It should have been at least three months, but we didn't have that time."

Although Santos lost to Bones on the scorecard, it was a close contest as ESPN's Ariel Helwani observed:

Jones had to be helped from the Octagon after the fight, per Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole:

The Brazilian's performance earned him a great deal of respect from Jones, as the American discussed in his post-fight press conference:

After such a close and hard-fought contest, a rematch between the two could be on the cards at some point in the future.

If Santos is operating at full capacity, it could be an incredible clash.

   

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