In his last two fights, which included his first career loss, Ben Askren has received the challenges that he was looking for. Having already faced Robbie Lawler and Jorge Masvidal, Askren’s next challenge comes in the form of jiu-jitsu ace Demian Maia, who is on a two-fight winning streak. Their intriguing matchup will take place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Oct. 26. Explore the numbers below and see who is likely to have the upper hand come UFC Fight Night 162.
Age and height
In this battle of veterans, Maia is around seven years the senior of Askren. The Brazilian submission specialist will be celebrating his 42nd birthday on Nov. 6, while, for his part, the American Askren turned 35 on July 18. At 5-foot-10, Askren is also two inches shorter than Maia.Octagon appearances
Askren has only fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship twice. From holding the lightweight belt at One Championship, he was shipped to the UFC in a trade with Demetrious Johnson. In his Octagon debut, “Funky” defeated Robbie Lawler in a controversial come-from-behind bulldog choke finish, after which he was devastatingly knocked out by Jorge Masvidal. Both of those fights happened within the last 12 months. This is a far cry from Maia, who has been with the UFC since 2007.Maia entered the UFC on Oct. 20, 2007, giving fans a glimpse of his submission prowess by choking out Ryan Jensen in the first round. Since then, he has fought the biggest names at middleweight and welterweight, including Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen, Kamaru Usman, Tyron Woodley, Jorge Masvidal and Carlos Condit. He has also earned multiple post-fight bonuses and has challenged for the title in two different weight classes, challenging for the middleweight title against Silva in 2010 and for the welterweight title against Woodley in 2017. His UFC record is 21-9.
Wins by submission
Against Maia, it’s easy to forget that Askren is a credentialed submission grappler. His ground game translated well into the cage, helping him earn six submission wins to this point. Apart from Lawler, he has also submitted Agilan Thani and Bakhtiyar Abbasov in One Championship, Ryan Thomas in Bellator and Matt Delanoit and Mitchell Harris in regional promotions.That said, Maia and Askren are nevertheless worlds apart when it comes to submissions. The former is widely regarded as one of the greatest ground tacticians to ever step into the cage. He has scored 13 submissions in MMA, victimizing the likes of Carlos Condit, Chael Sonnen and Matt Brown.
Wins by knockout
Maia is primarily known for his ground game, but his striking has improved immensely since he first entered the Octagon. Even so, Maia has only knocked out one person in the UFC, and it was because of injury. In all, he owns three victories by KO or TKO.As the statistics suggest, Askren is just as fond of submissions as he is of knockouts. He owns just as many submissions as knockouts at six. His KO or TKO wins have come at the expense of Shinya Aoki, Zebaztian Kadestam, Nobutatsu Suzuki, Andrey Koreshkov, Karl Amoussou and Josh Flowers.