By the Numbers: Ben Askren vs. Jorge Masvidal

The ordering process for Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-views has changed: UFC 239 is only available on ESPN+ in the U.S.

Ben Askren and Jorge Masvidal are both itching to set a date with current Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. But title aspirations aside, their upcoming bout is an excellent stylistic matchup fans would love to see. Let the numbers below give you an idea of how their UFC 239 bout in Las Vegas will play out.

UFC appearances

Askren has long been regarded as a UFC-caliber fighter. But it wasn’t until 2018 when he finally got signed by the promotion by virtue of a trade that shipped Demetrious Johnson to One Championship. “Funky” made his debut against Robbie Lawler on March 2, 2019 at UFC 235, winning via a controversial bulldog choke. And just like that, he got placed fifth in the welterweight rankings.

No. 4-ranked Masvidal has been in the UFC since 2013 when he debuted against Tim Means at UFC on Fox 7. He has fought some of the best, not just at welterweight, but also at lightweight, with victories over the likes of Donald Cerrone, Jake Ellenberger and Michael Chiesa. His Octagon record stands at 10-6.

Winning streak

After dropping a couple of fights to Demian Maia and Stephen Thompson, Masvidal bounced back by knocking out the young and dangerous Darren Till at UFC London. Against Askren, he will be going for a second straight victory.

Askren, meanwhile, has yet to taste defeat. Currently undefeated in 19 fights, which includes one no contest, “Funky” brought his superb wrestling to the regional circuit and stretched it to top promotions, such as Bellator, One Championship and now, the UFC. Askren gathered nine wins at Bellator as he won season two of its welterweight grand prix, became the Bellator welterweight champion, and defended the belt four times. He won seven times at One Championship as he became its welterweight king and defended his belt three times.

Wins by knockout

While he usually grinds out his opponent, Askren does have victories via knockout. He owns a total of six wins by KO or TKO, with stoppages of Josh Flowers, Karl Amoussou, Andrey Koreshkov, Nobutatsu Suzuki, Zebaztian Kadestam and Shinya Aoki.

However, it still doesn’t compare to Masvidal’s striking acumen. “Gamebred” notably fought professionally in boxing and kickboxing. In mixed martial arts, he has starched a long list of opposition by KO or TKO -- 14 to be exact. Apart from Till, Cerrone and Ellenberger, he also knocked out Joe Lauzon, Yves Edwards, Cezar Ferreira, Brandon Bledsoe, Roli Delgado, David Gardner, Matt Lee, Brant Rose, Ryan Schultz, Nick Agallar and Satoru Kitaoka.

Wins by submission

Masvidal is a solid striker with a decent submission grappling aptitude, which was on full display when he tapped out Eric Reynolds at Bellator Fighting Championships 12 and Michael Chiesa at UFC on Fox 8. That’s two submissions from the American Top Team standout. Meanwhile, Askren has piled up six submission victories over Mitchell Harris, Matt Delanoit, Ryan Thomas, Bakhtiyar Abbasov, Agilan Thani and of course, Lawler.