Ben Askren Reveals His Gameplan For Demian Maia:- “I Am Not Just Gonna Dive in For Takedowns”

Two of the best grapplers in MMA at the moment, Ben Askren and Demian Maia will go toe to toe in the main event of UFC Singapore. Ben Askren is coming from the first loss of his MMA career thanks to the flying knee from Jorge Masvidal and finds himself in a peculiar situation where he needs to win this fight.

On the other hand, Demian Maia would like to get the W in this fight to not only prove he is the best jiu-jitsu specialist in UFC but also to campaign for probably his last UFC title opportunity. Hence stakes can’t be higher when these two elite grapplers step into the octagon in UFC Singapore.

Although this fight is a very hard one to predict considering the resume of both the fighters, Ben Askren seems confident going into this fight.

“He(Maia) obviously struggles against the best wrestlers in the division. When you look at 170 division, it is deep with wrestlers. His only three-loss against Colby, Marty, and Tyron, those are all three pretty solid wrestlers. So he does struggle against best level wrestlers. And when you look at that recipe I think that favors me.”

It’s safe to assume that Ben Askren will be one of the best wrestlers compared to the fighters Demian Maia has fought in his MMA career. Other then the wrestling, Ben Askren has been notorious for his grappling abilities throughout his career. This does put Askren in a more favorable spot.

“I am not gonna go out there and do dumb stuff to take Demian down. I am not gonna do that. But I will go for takedowns. And I am very confident on the ground. I brought in a really high-level grappler for my training camp. Just everything was feeling really good, preparing for a lot of positions that I think we will see in the fight. So I am not just gonna dive in for takedowns but I will probably get my takedowns and will secure top position, I think I am a very dominant top position and I will be able to stop all the sweep and land a lot of damage from the top.”

Though Demian Maia is known for submitting opponents off his back he is equally good from the top position as well and Askren is well aware of that. However, Ben Askren believes he can reverse the position and get back up if he finds himself on the ground. Askren said:

“I am sure he will be trying to get the top position. He is comfortable off his back. But man he wins a lot fight on top. he gets a lot of takedowns. He does a lot of work from the top. I don’t think that’s a position he will be able to secure. If he does once or twice, I feel pretty comfortable getting back up and reverse the situation.”