UFC News: Tyron Woodley reveals what Ben Askren could have done to avoid losing to Demian Maia
The Ben Askren hype train well and truly came to a screeching halt at the recently concluded UFC Fight Night in Singapore after Demian Maia submitted the former Bellator Champion with a rear-naked choke in the third round.
Tyron Woodley, Askren's training partner and close friend, opened up about the Funky One's loss during the post-fight show after UFC Fight Night 162.
T-Wood was in attendance in Singapore to see his Askren overcome the grappling challenge posed by Maia, however, what he got instead was his friend's crushing loss to a BJJ expert.
Woodley said that Askren could have thrown a few overhand rights which would have helped get his head out of the line. This would have given Askren the chance to grab Maia's right leg. Woodley is quite familiar with Askren's psyche and revealed that the former ONE Champion doesn't shy away from putting himself in harm's way as he is usually confident of finding a way out.
Askren's mentality may have cost him the fight as he couldn't bail himself out against Demian Maia. However, Woodley feels that the grappling ace will return to action after going through the footage of his loss.
Woodley explained:
“The thing about Ben, when I was looking down there yelling and screaming, if he would’ve thrown overhand rights and got his head off-line he would’ve been able to access the right leg of Demian Maia. If he would’ve thrown that shovel uppercut and got his head off-line, he would’ve avoided those punches, he would’ve got close to the front leg which from a southpaw is gonna be his right leg. Getting to the back leg of Demian Maia is very difficult and when you go back there it’s a huge risk that you have to take, and I think that when you go for it with your head down and you’re trying to go for those strikes you put yourself in jeopardy.”
“As I said before, Ben likes to put himself in harm’s way because he knows he’s confident in getting out of it. This time he didn’t get out of it. I think he’ll go back home, I think he’ll look at the film and I think he can get back on the horse.” H/t Credit: MMANews
Despite going 1-2 in the UFC, Askren has handled the loss like a true professional by stating that he made a bad decision and he was sorry for letting his fans down.
So what's next for Askren? Where should he go from here? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.