Grappling Bulletin: Maia's Submission Of Askren Reignites Wrestling Debate

Far from silencing the opposition, Maia's submission of Askren adds fuel to the fire of the age-old "jiu-jitsu vs wrestling" debate.

Oct 28, 2019 by Hywel Teague

Grappling Bulletin: Maia's Submission Of Askren Reignites Wrestling Debate

Demian Maia reignited the "jiu-jitsu vs wrestling" debate with a submission win over Ben Askren at UFC Singapore.

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Demian Maia reignited the "jiu-jitsu vs wrestling" debate with a submission win over Ben Askren at UFC Singapore.

Wrestling had been enjoying a moment in the spotlight after ADCC last month, with wrestlers joyfully claiming Nick Rodriguez's silver medal in the +99kg division as a win for their style. The breakthrough star's performance was the catalyst for a lot of conversation about the effectiveness of wrestling compared to that of jiu-jitsu, and so Maia vs Askren was a natural extension of this ongoing debate.

You couldn't find better examples of each style in MMA.

Maia, a 2007 ADCC champion, has long been considered one of the top representatives of jiu-jitsu in the Octagon and he was ranked joint 12th in our Jiu-Jitsu in MMA Rankings with 13 submissions in 36 MMA fights. Askren wrestled at the 2008 Olympics and holds the single-season NCAA pin record. Prior to a KO loss in July of this year, Askren was undefeated in 20 fights.

For Askren, a match with Maia was expected to be the toughest test of his ground game, but the fight acted as a showcase for both man's skills – until it hit the mat. They traded strikes and Askren scored his takedowns, but Maia utilized his jiu-jitsu to great effect once it hit the floor, chasing after submission attempts, reversing position and ultimately locking in the fight-finishing submission late in the third round.

Far from silencing the opposition, Maia's submission of Askren adds fuel to the fire of the age-old "jiu-jitsu vs wrestling" debate. Wrestlers will point to their dominance in MMA as an example of their superiority, while jiu-jitsu practitioners point to ADCC as the gold standard and remind them that Rodriguez was an outlier and every champion in 2019 was a jiu-jitsu black belt.

Askren himself acknowledges that Maia is "the best grappler in MMA," and claims his loss was down to a grave strategic error.

"I was getting takedowns, I think I landed four or five takedowns I believe," he told ESPN. "And then I made a really bad decision. We had obviously trained so much back in camp with a really good jiu-jitsu guy, and I was overconfident."

"I guess there's a reason he's the best grappler in MMA, possibly ever. I was feeling confident I was going to get the reversal — obviously I didn't, it failed and that was the outcome."

"I was happy with my striking, I cut him two or three times, landed some really hard punches. When I did go for the takedowns I got all the takedowns pretty successfully, but one bad decision at this level is enough for a failed outcome."

Maia’s submission win sees him rise one place from No. 12 to No. 11 in the FloGrappling Jiu-Jitsu in MMA Rankings. Take a look at the full list here.

The Inside Sankaku Might Be Illegal in IBJJF, Apparently

Gordon Ryan brought something interesting to our attention. William Tackett of Checkmat has been on a Eurotrip these last few weeks, and he was in the United Kingdom last weekend to compete in a local tournament in London. While there, he got disqualified in the final of the absolute division for using the inside sankaku position, a leg entanglement that Gordon Ryan used to great effect at the 2018 World and Pan No-Gi Championships.

Ryan highlighted it because he had gone to great lengths to ensure the legality of the position. At first glance, it appears much like a reap but the key is not in the foot crossing the line of the hip but the control of the ankle of the trapped leg. Ryan helped educate the grappling community that the leg entanglement was legal so long as you did not trap the ankle underneath your armpit.

Tackett had used the position a number of times over the past few weeks, including at the IBJJF London Open. But the position saw him DQ'd by the ref. When he queried the call with the head ref of the tournament, a regular face on the IBJJF circuit, they told him that the position is now illegal.

"I did this same position like 25 times this year in IBJJF, gi and no-gi," says Tackett, who was obviously confused by the call.

We'll do our best to find out more.

Results recap

Fight 2 Win 129 from Saturday night saw the following:

Talita Alencar defeated Catherine Perret via split decision
Dante Leon submitted Isaque Bahiense with a savage guillotine choke
Jessica Flowers scored a decision win over Hannette Staack
Mauricio Oliveira earned a judge's decision over Matt Leighton

Catch up on the videos here

Thalison Soares now lives and teaches jiu-jitsu in Australia, and he competed at the IBJJF Pan Pacific Championships. Soares took gold in the light-featherweight division, beating Rodrigo Yoshimi Oiye and Hideyuki Yamada, both by submission. Thalison recently got his Instagram account hacked and is starting again from zero, so go hit him with a follow.

Quote of the Day

“Every time I win matches I don’t get more confident. I build in my mind another goal, and then another goal. I never feel content with what I do. It definitely makes me more successful, that type of mindset – never content, just keep going to the next goal.”
– Three-time IBJJF World champ Mikey Musumeci