Ben Askren admits his ego might have played a factor in his loss to Demian Maia at UFC on ESPN+ 20.
Askren (19-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) suffered his second consecutive defeat Saturday when Maia (28-9 MMA, 22-9 UFC) choked him out with a third-round submission in the welterweight headliner, which took place at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.
After having his undefeated run snapped with a record-breaking knockout loss to Jorge Masvidal in July, the matchup with Maia was viewed as Askren’s chance to rebound against an opponent with a complimentary style. The matchup was touted as one that would determine the UFC’s best grappler between the wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialists, and Askren’s unwavering belief in himself directly into making a poor decision.
“We had obviously trained so much back in camp; I had a really good jiu-jitsu guy,” Askren said on the UFC on ESPN+ 20 post-fight show. “I guess I was overconfident. I guess there’s a reason why he’s the best grappler in the division, possibly in MMA ever. I was fairly confident that I was gonna get the reversal, but I didn’t, and I failed, and obviously that was the outcome.”
The early rounds saw Maia executing well in striking and tagging Askren with some good shots. Askren started to find a home for his takedowns as the bout wore on, and every time the action hit the ground the fighters produced exciting back-and-forth grappling exchanges.
Maia ultimately capitalized on an advantageous position in the third round, securing the rear-naked choke and briefly putting Askren to sleep. “Funky” said he didn’t think it would happen that way but pointed out how MMA is a game of inches and an error on his behalf led to the loss.
“(The fight went) kind of as we planned,” Askren said. “A couple of positions I would’ve liked to have get, like a muay Thai clinch more, but he was able to stay out of that. But I was landing the punches I wanted to land. I was landing my uppercut really well. And then I was getting takedowns. I think I ended up with four or five takedowns. And then I made a really bad decision.”
Askren now has lost two-straight after staying undefeated through 19 career fights. The former Bellator and ONE Championship titleholder came to the UFC this year to prove he’s the top welterweight fighter in the world, but the latest result takes him out of the discussion. At 35, critics will argue Askren’s window is closed. However, he said he’s not making any rash decisions about his future.
“I don’t know (what’s next),” Askren said. “I’ve got to go home and sit down and talk about it and think about it. Obviously had a real busy year. It was fantastic. Even coming into this fight I’m thinking, ‘What’s next? Who am I going to call out?’ When I lost – everyone in the division is busy. A callout would be hard. There’s no one that makes a whole lot of sense right away. With that being said, I’ll probably wait and sit for a second and see what happens.”
Ben Askren: 'I guess I was overconfident' in loss to Demian Maia at UFC on ESPN+ 20