UFC Singapore: Maia vs. Askren - Winners and Losers
A look at the winners and losers from UFC Singapore.
UFC Singapore was a solid event. There wasn’t anything that jumped out on the results page that was shocking. Not much in terms of highlight reel finishes. However, there weren’t any bad fights either. Most were competitive. The headliner saw a finish as all-time great Demian Maia secured another submission over another noted grappler in Ben Askren. While both are far enough removed from title contention that it doesn’t impact that picture, it was a fight everyone agreed needed to happen and now we have the result. Maia will roll on for a few more fights before retiring, but where Askren goes, we can only speculate.
Winners
Demian Maia: I try to take bias out of my writing as much as possible, though I will call out something I find to be particularly noteworty, good or bad. Maia is one of those guys that make it hard to keep bias out as he’s such a good dude. Thus, though I have nothing against Askren, there was a part of me that couldn’t help but celebrate when Maia got the finish. At 41, Maia’s grappling looked sharp as ever. When Askren was able to secure takedowns, Maia limited the offensive output from Askren by quickly sweeping and/or getting back to his feet in the process. The final sweep saw Maia get on top of Askren, eventually finding the RNC finish. Maia has contented himself to taking interesting contests at this point of his career, throwing out the possibility of taking on Diego Sanchez. There are other interesting grappling contests I’d rather see, but I appreciate Maia taking this realistic approach.
Stevie Ray: There’s something to be said for perseverance. Not that Ray was clearly losing to Michael Johnson, but Ray stuck to his strategy and it paid off for the Scotsman in the end. Engaging in a close striking battle with Johnson through the first two-and-a-half rounds, Ray turned the contest on its head, scoring a takedown and getting a dominant position to rain down the punishment and seal the win. Credit to Ray, as Johnson is a physically superior fighter. Regardless of whether I see Ray’s continued climb being limited, he is still growing, particularly on the mental side.
Beneil Dariush: It won’t make many highlight reels, but the way Dariush methodically deconstructed Frank Camacho was the best performance of his career. Spending the first few moments on the feet, Dariush fought intelligently, making sure Camacho never had an opportunity to touch up his chin. All the while, he landed plenty of hard strikes himself, proving he can still be a threat on the feet. Enough of Dariush crashing the party of those who aren’t in his league. Let’s get him fighting ranked opponents again.
Cyril Gane: As an analyst, I like seeing how well prospects do when they go the distance… or at least just short of the distance. Gane did that, evoking a tap from Dontale Mayes with just 14 seconds left to go with a heel hook, the latest submission finish in UFC heavyweight history. That’s the second consecutive submission finish from the dangerous striker. Then again, it isn’t like he didn’t piece up Mayes over the course of nearly 15 minutes anyway. Y’all catch the flying knee he landed in the first round? I was leery about the hype around Gane when he first entered the UFC. Now, I’m going to be one those beating the Gane drum loudest.
Muslim Salikhov: In a way, it’s better for Salikhov that he won a decision rather than accumulating another highlight reel KO. His reputation is that as someone who can only win with a sick KO. It turns out the King of Kung Fu knows how to pace himself very well, having an opportunity to deplete his gas tank in the second round after hurting Laureano Staropoli, only to pull back when he realized the finish wasn’t coming. I still don’t see Salikhov becoming any sort of contender, but he’s a more dangerous gatekeeper than I anticipated.
Randa Markos: It may not have been a flawless performance, but it was nice to see Markos return to the aggression that has traditionally marked her career after an uncharacteristically passive performance against Claudia Gadelha. This time around, she went after the finish against Ashley Yoder, pursuing submissions and landing some heavy punches, both standing and on the ground. Sure, most of the submissions she went after had a low chance of succeeding, but a return to form for Markos feels more important than a tentative version of herself who is thinking too much.
Rafael Fiziev: I picked Fiziev to win his contest with Alex White. I didn’t expect him to be so dominant. A large part has to do with Fiziev showing he can stuff takedowns with great efficiency, something a lot of people were unsure he possessed. It was the striking department where he really shined, hurting White on several occasions, even having a moment where it looked like he was going to score a finish in the first round. It didn’t play out that way, but Fiziev looked awesome nonetheless. After a rough debut, Fiziev looks like he’s going to be an exciting addition to the deep lightweight division.
Movsar Evloev: For someone who is best known for their wrestling, Evloev looked incredibly sharp on the feet. Well, at least he did early on. Taking the fight to the typical aggressor in Enrique Barzola, Evloev clearly had the Peruvian frustrated in the first half of their contest, landing several hard shots and mixing in some takedowns to boot. Yes, Evloev allowed Barzola back in the contest over the last half of the decision, but Barzola is a cardio machine and Evloev remained competitive. It was a fantastic performance, giving the fans of Evloev further reason to stay on the bandwagon.
Sergey Pavlovich: There wasn’t a time when Pavlovich landed clean that Maurice Greene wasn’t reacting badly. Fighters do everything they can to no-sell what their opponents throw and Greene was unable to do that. That should give you an idea of how hard Pavlovich hits. He’s still far from being a player, but finishing Greene in the first round was about as good of a result as he could have asked for. Give Pavlovich a couple of years and he could be making serious noise.
Loma Lookboonmee: Perhaps my perception is skewed from having taken in Michelle Waterson fall to Joanna Jedrzejczyk a couple of weeks ago, but there may be a case for the UFC bringing in an atomweight division, Lookboonmee being a prime example. Sure, Alexandra Albu isn’t a particularly impressive win. However, the Russian is very strong and Lookboonmee was still able to dominate the clinch – and in the process, the fight – on the strength of her technique. Imagine how much better she could be from there if she fought someone closer to her size. Regardless, strong performance from the 23=year old.
Raphael Pessoa: I never thought I’d see Pessoa end up in the winner’s column in his UFC run, but the heavy hitter proved me wrong. He looked far more comfortable against Jeff Hughes than he did in his debut against Gane. He was fortunate to seemingly break the orbital bone in Hughes eye, giving him vision problems for the rest of the contest. That, along with Pessoa’s flurries of offense, proved to be enough despite Pessoa slowing significantly in the final round.
Dana White: Uncle Dana always loves it when he’s proven right. His belief that Askren wasn’t a top fighter is bearing itself out more and more with every Askren loss. To Askren’s credit, Uncle Dana was wrong about Askren being someone that people didn’t care about, but White’s going to emphasize when he’s right rather than when he’s wrong every time.
Losers
Ben Askren: It is going to be hard for Askren to climb back into relevancy in the welterweight picture. Not that Maia isn’t a tough competitor, even at his advanced age. But Askren was supposed to be one of the best at 170. With two consecutive losses – both finishes – it’s getting harder to make that argument. Some forget Askren isn’t exactly a spring chicken either as he’s now 35. Over a decade into his career, it’s worth questioning how much he can improve at this point as well. His inability to put enough oomph on his numerous uppercuts allowed Maia to not only feel confident on the feet, but also allowed him to keep a clear head when the fight hit the mat. I’m not ready to count him out, but I’m willing to bet Askren settles into a gatekeeper role to the top ten. It’s not a bad fate, but I can promise it isn’t a fate Askren was hoping for.
Michael Johnson: Yet another fight Johnson let slip through his fingers in the third round. What the hell? No one doubts whether Johnson still has the physical tools to hang with the majority of the lightweight roster despite approaching a decade in the organization. It’s the mental side of things for the Menace. Once he was put into a bad position on the mat, it was like Johnson froze, immediately covering up rather than looking to get back to his feet. Given the late collapse has been a theme for Johnson since his loss to Reza Madadi all the way back in 2013, it doesn’t appear this is an issue that will ever be solved.
Frank Camacho: There wasn’t much action coming from one of the sport’s most notorious action fighters. Dariush just never gave Camacho much of a chance to get going, fighting intelligently and taking the native of Guam to the mat in a hurry. From there, Camacho never had a chance against the former no-gi world champion. As much as I love Camacho, I wasn’t crazy about this contest as soon as it was announced, feeling like Dariush would wisely take the fight to the mat as soon as he could and that is exactly what happened. Here’s hoping they pit him against someone who wants to stand and trade next.
Don’tale Mayes: Y’all remember the first meeting between Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes? Ngannou pieced up Blaydes in a one-sided contest. However, underneath the shellacking, you could see a good prospect in Blaydes. That’s kind of what happened with Mayes at the expense of Gane. I’m not saying Mayes is going to be the next Curtis Blaydes. I’m saying Mayes is a good prospect who got worked over by an even better prospect in Gane. He looked like a completely different fighter than the one that first appeared in DWCS in the first season. Mayes is coming along and should hang around for a while despite a poo debut.
Laureano Staropoli: To be fair, Staropoli’s loss to Salikhov wasn’t a terrible performance… at least late in the fight. Unfortunately for Staropoli, he didn’t begin to press the action until the final round. By then it was too late for him to take a decision and Salikhov was conscious of that. I understand where Staropoli was coming from. He didn’t want to rush into anything Salikhov might throw at him, resulting in a tentative performance from Staropoli. Nonetheless, this was a contest Staropoli could have won. Unfortunately, he didn’t.
Alex White: While I don’t believe White is in any danger of being released quite yet, it’s safe to say most have given up on White becoming anything more than the low-level gatekeeper that he is. He’s too stiff on the feet and doesn’t have enough oomph in his wrestling to make that a consistent part of his arsenal. His inability to ground Fiziev, a striking specialist, confirms that.
Maurice Greene: So much for Greene learning to use his size and length to his advantage. Greene showed no sign of having a functional jab, something that would have been a big help in keeping the heavy hitting Pavlovich at bay. Nonetheless, the TKO loss wasn’t unexpected from MMA analysts, so it should hardly represent the end of the road for Greene. He’s youthful enough at heavyweight that he still has plenty of time to develop more skills.
Alexandra Albu: I don’t know if Albu gave a rat’s ass, but she effectively made herself the villain right off the bat when she was holding onto Lookboonmee’s clothes on several occasions in the opening minutes. Despite her cheating and strength advantage, Lookboonmee was still able to get the better of the clinch battles. Albu is tough as hell and her reckless aggression can be fun, but there isn’t enough strategy to her approach as she seems to believe she can out-tough everyone she faces. Not in the UFC.
Jeff Hughes: I never though Hughes was going to be a major player in the UFC, but I didn’t expect him to go winless through UFC given the opposition he has faced. He just never seemed to settle down against Pessoa as the Brazilian attacked early and often before Hughes could find a groove. Hughes is tough and doesn’t get rattled, but he just doesn’t have enough physical attributes to hang around.
Neither
Ashley Yoder: While the split decision surprised me – I can only see giving Yoder the opening round – I think Yoder acquitted herself well against Markos. She took the fight to the longtime mainstay of the strawweight division, showing continued improvements in her wrestling. Given she was expected to lose, she’d be wise to concentrate on the positives in this contest while continuing to work on weaknesses. Yoder will never be a contender, but she has developed into more than just the tough out she was when she entered the organization.
Enrique Barzola: It could be argued Barzola’s loss played out exactly as planned on paper. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Barzola wouldn’t go away despite Evloev’s early dominance. It developed into him not just remaining a pest, but becoming the aggressor. It’s hard not to root for the energetic AKA representative. Even when he losses, you can’t help but admire his effort. Few, if any, have seen Barzola developing into a contender. That doesn’t mean his development hasn’t been impressive, even if he is apparently getting close to topping out.