UFC Singapore: Demian Maia’s Jiu-Jitsu Hands Ben Askren Second Defeat

Heading into today’s fight between Ben Askren and Demian Maia, the big question was whether the decorated wrestler would choose to take Maia down and engage his galaxy-class jiu-jitsu. Well, Askren did do just that, but the strategy didn’t pay off.

Round one

Maia came out firing some hard, straight lefts. Askren started looking to clinching up but Maia broke free. Askren planted a couple of leg kicks in the opening two minutes. Askren went for the clinch again, and scored with a nice right. Maia appeared to tag Askren with a hard hook but the wrestler kept coming forward. Maia fired in a hard body kick but Askren ate it. By the fourth minute of the bout, Maia’s face was visibly marked up. Then, with around 40 seconds left, Askren swept Maia to the floor. Maia started hunting for a heel hook before the round ended.

Round two

Askren fired a body kick not long into round two. Moments later Askren scored with a hard right, uppercut. By mid-round, Maia’s face was bloodied, and Askren worsened it with a nice flurry. Maia planted a nice jab and with one minute left, Askren took him down. Maia took top position with a beautiful sweep, however, and began working to pass. Maia took mount briefly, and the ensuing scramble, Askren had to defend a kimura attempt.

Round three

Askren continued to press forward in round three and landed several more rights. One minute in, Askren tripped Maia to the mat. The latter, however, worked his way up and out. Maia tossed in some nice jabs as did Askren. The latter tripped Maia to the floor again but once more, Maia took top position with a sweep. Askren gave up his back and Maia started hunting for a choke. Moments later, Askren managed one tap before he may have gone out. Wow. What a win for Maia.

Here are the complete results for UFC Singapore.

Demian Maia def. Ben Askren via submission (rear-naked-choke) R3, 3:54

Stevie Ray def. Michael Johnson via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)

Beneil Dariush def. Frank Camacho via submission (rear-naked choke) R1, 2:02

Ciryl Gane def. Don’Tale Mayes via submission (heel hook) R3, 4:46

Muslim Salikhov def. Laureano Staropoli via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 29-28)

Randa Markos def. Ashley Yoder via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Rafael Fiziev def. Alex White via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Movsar Evloev def. Enrique Barzola via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Sergei Pavlovich def. Maurice Greene via TKO (punches) R1, 2:11

Loma Lookboonmee def. Alexandra Albu via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)

Raphael Pessoa Nunes def. Jeff Hughes via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)