UFC Singapore, The Morning After: Culmination Of A Failed Experiment

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Here’s what you may have missed from last night!

It seems like just yesterday I wrote about the Death of a Specialist, a riff on the 1949 stage play title Death of Salesman, a pair of occupations that describe Ben Askren to a tee. “Funky” is both an expert talker and master grappler, but as we saw both in July and yesterday morning, the rest of his game is … lacking.

I don’t want to write the same article twice. That’s no good. And yet, I’m forced to return to the scene of a rather familiar crime, as Askren’s complete specialization and inability to adapt has once again left him unconscious.

To be on the receiving end of the quickest knockout in UFC history is a bad loss. It’s a really bad loss given all the trash talk and the instant memeification of every little detail. From Masvidal’s post-fight mockery to Askren’s slumped posture, not a single element has been forgotten, and all of it has been ruthlessly thrown in Askren’s face ad nauseam.

Yet the Demian Maia loss is worse (HIGHLIGHTS!).

At least the Masvidal knockout could be written off to some degree. Sure, Askren’s one-dimensional threat of wrestling allowed his opponent to blatantly sprint into a knee with little fear of the consequences, but a five-second KO is fluky by nature. Fun to watch, but it doesn’t definitively prove much. Askren didn’t have the chance to showoff his talents, so there was at least a silver lining.

Unfortunately, Askren did show off the full extent of his abilities last night, and he did it against the worst possible foil. The Maia loss leaves Askren without a single possible excuse. The Brazilian is almost seven years older than Askren and has been in far more punishing fights across his career — Askren only started really taking damage earlier this year. There can be no question as to which man is closer to his athletic prime.

Worse still, Maia is just as much of a specialist as Askren. His last 12 victories, which covers a span of seven years, all played out in pretty similar fashion. Maia moved forward, shot for his single leg, and methodically worked towards the back. Everyone knows what’s coming, but very few are able to stop it for a simple reason: Maia actually took the time to learn a bit of kickboxing, which consequently made his area of strength much more effective.

No, Demian Maia is not a perfect striker by any means. While Askren fell over his own feet and headbutted Maia a half-dozen times, however, Maia stuck his foe with good left hands to the mid-section and nose. When Askren did land in the clinch, Maia landed hard knees to the body.

Askren landed some decent shots amidst his flailing, it’s true, but the simple fact of the matter is that fighting sloppily in any area burns more energy than sticking a tried-and-true method like a basic left hand down the middle. Askren’s gas tank ran up, he returned to his comfort zone of wrestling, and it backfired quickly.

This loss ends any talk of Askren as an elite contender and may even end his time on the UFC roster. The consequences are even further reaching though, as Askren’s recent performances make any talk of a non-UFC fighter being the best in the world much less palatable. That’s not remotely fair to the rest of the fighting world, but it’s true.

There are still fighters outside the Octagon who are incredible talents — perhaps even the best in the world (see Kyoji Horiguchi). If we’ve learned anything from the Askren experiment, however, it’s to be a bit more skeptical of the idea that a specialist can walk over elite talent while still showing obvious flaws against regional competition.

For complete UFC Fight Night 162: “Maia vs. Askren” results and play-by-play, click HERE!