Damian Maia managed to defeat Ben Askren at UFC Fight Night in Singapore, and prove that he is still among the best fighters in the organization. He did that using his most lethal weapon – a rear-naked choke, with 3:54 into the third round.
Maia (28-9 MMA, 22-9 UFC), even though 41 years of age, outmatched Askren and his grappling skills, despite the fact that “Funky” himself is one of the best fighters on the ground. He was an underdog coming into this fight, and some even predicted his swift loss against the American who did open the contest well but finished it pretty badly.
Askren (19-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) was better in the opening round, and he found a way to throw few strong punches into Maia’s face. According to all the experts, he won that part of the match, but instead of maintaining the same style of fighting, he made the wrong decision and wanted to break the rival too early.
Funky thought that the 41-year old veteran doesn’t have too much of energy, and went for a takedown. It turned out to be a big mistake. Maia, arguably the best grappler in MMA, quickly found his way on top of Askren, who survived the second round but couldn’t repeat the same thing in the next one.
The momentum has changed, and the Brazilian was in charge, Once again the battle was going on the ground, only this time there was no getting away from Askren. Maia caught him with a rear-naked choke, and the American tapped out at 3:54 in the third.
“I was overconfident,” said Askren. “I guess there’s a reason he’s the best grappler in the division — possibly in MMA — ever.”
This is now his second loss in the UFC, and the way things look, he won’t be considered an elite fighter anymore. A five-second knockout against Jorge Masvidal and a failure here are most definitely pulling Askren down to the group the guys who aren’t going to get a shot at the title anytime soon.
Maia, meanwhile, is looking for one last chance to get the belt. The guy who has 22 wins, one fewer than UFC-leading Donald Cerrone, stated that he has two more fights in his career. Ono of those fights would be against Diego Sanchez, who is his target for quite some time. It appears that the two have some unfinished business, as we continuously hear trash talk between them.
After the match, Maia spoke highly of Askren, saying that Funky and he are the best grapplers in this sport.
“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 fight between Diaz and Masvidal is next week in New York despite all the problems which appeared recently. UFC officially confirmed that yesterday, ruling out all the speculations claiming otherwise.
