Veteran Grappler Demian Maia Able to ‘Pull Some Tricks’ Against Ben Askren

For a 41-year-old grizzled veteran, Demian Maia certainly looked like a young man in his prime Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night 162 in Singapore.

Maia (28-9) proved once again that he is virtually unparalleled in the grappling department in MMA, as he submitted polarizing wrestler Ben Askren in the third round. Maia landed several stinging punches to the head and body of “Funky” Askren throughout their welterweight main event encounter, but, as expected, the Brazilian finished things in the bets way he knows — via jiu-jitsu.

Askren was tagged repeatedly on the feet, but the American did score multiple takedowns. One of the best wrestlers to ever grace the UFC’s Octagon, Askren was expecting to utilize his strength and ability on the canvas to neutralize Maia’s skillset. That wound up not being the case, as with 66 seconds remaining in the third, Maia had Askren’s back and put him to sleep with a textbook rear-naked choke.

“For me, this is a great win. In my opinion, he and I are the best grapplers in the game, pure grapplers who really represent the grappling arts,” Maia said after his win. “You don’t see anybody like me – efficient at representing just one art. And he represents mainly wrestling. So, it was an interesting clash of styles. I didn’t know what to expect, but I trust very much in my game.”

Coming into the bout, grappling fans were hoping for one of the best showcases of jiu-jitsu versus wrestling in years. While there were wild scrambles and a few submission attempts from Maia after “Funky” took him down, the contest was largely fought on the feet. And when Maia continuously peppered Askren with punches to the head and body, Askren (19-2) began to slow down, which made Maia’s win a little easier.

“I think my strikes were connecting better, he was connecting too but mine were connecting with more efficiency, so I knew if I kept going, he’d get tired faster than me,” he said. “This fight was a very intriguing fight for me, I didn’t know what was going to happen. I think I was doing well on the stand up and when I fell on the bottom, he was strong.”

Maia said he had a few plans up his proverbial sleeve going in and he said everything kind of fell into place.

“He’s a great wrestler, but I was able to pull some tricks I used in my jiu-jitsu training many years ago,” he said. “I knew he was waiting for one kind of sweep that I do in the half guard, so I trained other stuff to confuse him.”