Ben Askren Aiming to Face Off Against DeMaian Maia on Oct 26

Ben Askren is looking to bounce back after his devastating loss against Jorge Masvidal, and now he has his eyes on Demian Maia. Earlier this week there were talks of UFC trying to schedule Ben Askren VS Demian Maia. And from recent tweets from Ben Askren, it seems that he is interested in this fight. T

Earlier to clarify his match up with Ben, DeMaian tweeted

“I don’t know, for real. It’s a challenge that interests me for sure. @Benaskren is a great grappler and It would be exciting and motivating to compete against him. I’m not sure what’s the latest with @ufc ‘s and Ben’s plans though.”

And Ben replied to it saying ” I said yes weeks ago” . Also in another tweet, Ben replied to DeMaian

“I’m in Oct 26 DeMaian. Are you in also?”

In response to that DeMaian has said, “If that’s good for the UFC and for you as well, I would be happy to compete with you on that date. It is an intriguing challenge and I’m up for it! As a grappler, it’s the kind of challenge that motivates me. It’s truly up to them.”

So it seems both fighters are in agreement to fight each other on Oct 26th and it’s on UFC now to make this fight official.

With two wins on his column in his last two fight, DeMaian has some momentum before this match, but the last time he beat a top caliber opponent was in 2017 when he defeated Jorge Masvidal.

And Ben is fresh out of the knock out loss against Masvidal. Stylistically it would be a great fight for Ben Askren since he is very comfortable on the ground with anyone and DeMaian will not be looking to trade punches with Ben Askren either. It will be a grueling grappling battle between two elite grapplers. DeMaian has faced a lot of wrestlers throughout his journey in UFC but Ben Askren’s funky wrestling is different and on whole another level. Ben Askren was the next big thing before his loss to Masvidal. If UFC makes this fight official, it would be interesting to see how Ben Askren gets his momentum back and gets in the line for a title shot.