It’s not officially been confirmed that Ben Askren will return to action against Demian Maia in the main event of UFC Fight Night 162 in Singapore on October 26th.
Askren will be looking to bounce back after the first loss of his 21-fight career, and a brutal one at that, being knocked out by a Jorge Masvidal flying knee in just 5 seconds at UFC 239.
The 35-year-old’s UFC debut had gone better, earning a first-round submission victory over Robbie Lawler back in March.
However, even that didn’t go quite the way he would have hoped as he was close to being finished early in the fight after being dumped on his head by ‘Ruthless,’ while the finish was considered controversial due to Lawler having given the referee the thumbs up just before the official stepped in to end the bout, mistakenly believing he was unconscious.
Askren faces a much different challenge this time around though as his Olympic level wrestling skills will be going up against Maia’s mastery of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and that’ll make for a fascinating clash of styles that will thrill grappling fans.
The 41-year-old Maia is coming towards the end of his career, but is still competing at a high level and is actually coming off back-to-back wins over Lyman Good and Anthony Rocco Martin in 2019 so far.
Askren vs. Maia is currently the only fight attached to the Singapore show.
