Ben Askren might be one of the best wrestlers in the world, but his wrestling was no match for Demian Maia’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 162 main event at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.
Askren, who held his own against Maia in the striking department, was able to secure two takedowns against Maia but was swept and reversed on both occasions. The former ONE FC and Bellator welterweight champion was swept and submitted with a rear-naked choke in the third round and believes overconfidence may have played a factor in the result.
“Yeah, I mean kind of as we planned, there was a couple of positions, I would have like to get to a Muay Thai clinch more often, but he was able to stay out of that,” Askren said in a post-fight interview at Kallang’s Singapore Indoor Stadium (h/t BJPenn.