5 biggest takeaways from UFC 239, from Masvidal's massacre to Rockhold's rough spot

What mattered most at UFC 239 in Las Vegas? Here are a few post-fight musings …

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1. Jorge Masvidal finally unearthed his full potential

The number of times I’ve watch Jorge Masvidal fight – even in a winning effort – over the years only to leave somewhat irked by him are too many to count. It was obvious there was a higher gear inside him, but either mentally or physically he didn’t shift to it.

Then Masvidal took a career-long layoff leading into 2019, and boy, did that ever change things.

Masvidal’s brutal finish of Darren Till in March was among the top nominees for best knockout of the year. It got pushed down the leaderboard with his ridiculous five-second flying knee finish of Ben Askren, however, and now 16 years into his career it feels like we are finally seeing his full potential.

That doesn’t just apply to in the octagon, either. “Gamebred” is showing the world what he’s all about as a person, too, and that’s a non-nonsense individual with zero mercy for his opponents, especially if they piss him off.

The days of feeling frustrated Masvidal was either not letting go in his fights or being unmotivated are seemingly a thing of the past. The “Street Jesus” version of him is the best we’ve seen, and that knockout of Askren was unlike any other in UFC history. Whether it leads to a title shot remains to be seen, but I definitely am already excited to see Masvidal fight another top welterweight.