Damian Maia Defeats Ben Askren via Submission at UFC Singapore

Demian Maia defeated Ben Askren in the main event of UFC Fight Night 161 held in Singapore. The 41-year old from Brazil brought himself to the top of the UFC welterweight division.

The stakes in this match were very high, and the equation was clear here; whoever loses will probably be erased from the UFC in the near future. Maia (28-9 MMA, 22-9 UFC), well into the fifth decade of his life, had to prove that he still has the quality to compete in the elite company of fighters. On the other hand, Askren (19-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) needed to shut down all the critics who were saying that he doesn’t have what it takes even to be a part of the UFC caravan.

Yet, the Brazilian won this one, and he is now expecting his reward. A shot at a title, or something else we don’t know. But what we do know is that he revealed that he has only two fights left in his rich and long career. And also, Maia stated that he would like to have Diego Sanchez as his next opponent. According to his words, Sanchez has been calling him for years, and it is time for them two to settle some things.

The battle of the grapplers!

Demian Maia got the submission to subject Ben Askren to back-to-back defeats.

Only Cowboy Cerrone has more wins inside the Octagon! pic.twitter.com/3mGkoc82fP

— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) October 26, 2019

As for the fight, the Brazilian had nothing but kind words for Askren whom he praised as one of the best grapplers in the MMA.

“Myself and he, we are the best grapplers in the game,” said the Maia. “And now, maybe today they can do that belt. You know, they’re going to do [it] for Masvidal and Nate. They could do the Best Grappler now.”

The former Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champ didn’t have too many problems against “Funky” who did start well but ran out of gas as the fight progressed. Askren was better in the first round, and a part of the second, while he and his opponent traded strikes from the stand-up, and at the time, Maia’s face was a bit hurt unlike the American’s.

That might have deceived Askren who probably thought that he wore out his rival and that it is time for him to attack with full power. In the second round, the former ONe and Bellator champ decided to bring down Maia on the ground, which eventually proved to be a bad decision.

In no time, the veteran was on Askren and near a submission, but somehow he missed that chance to end the battle.

The situation continued in the following round, where it stopped in the previous, with Maia dominating the ground fight, pressuring Askren who was trying to stay alive. He again reversed the positions and with 1:06 left until the end of the round, forcing the rival to tap after he got him with a rear-naked choke.

"There's a reason why he's the best grappler in the division, possibly in MMA history." @BenAskren reflects after his submission loss at #UFCSingapore pic.twitter.com/S8bYou6Zum

— UFC (@ufc) October 26, 2019

Askren admitted before the journalists that he misjudged the situation and that he made a mistake when decided to attack Maia.

“I was overconfident,” he said. “I guess there’s a reason he’s the best grappler in the division — possibly in MMA — ever.”

Because Askren is also an excellent grappler, Maia stated that he had to change his tactics for this fight and that eventually worked.

“I tried to change my game a little bit from the bottom because I know he will be waiting for the half-guard, so I went to different stuff.”

Maia posted his 22nd win in UFC, the second-most behind Donald Cerrone, and he did it with his 14th submission. It is his third in a row now, and it seems that the veteran still has what it takes to be one of the best in his category.

Askren meanwhile, suffered his second in a row, and his future in the organization is highly doubtful. Even before this one, his status wasn’t very good, but now, it appears that he is closer to being recognized as an average fighter, than a potential champion.