UFC Fight Night 162 Odds, Preview & Predictions

Looking for something live to bet on at Mybookie on Saturday morning before college football gets started? The UFC has complied with a Fight Night card from Singapore featuring a welterweight bout between Demian Maia and Ben Askren. Here’s a look at that and the co-main event UFC Odds while making some predictions.

UFC Fight Night 162 Odds, Preview & Predictions

• When: Saturday, 8 AM ET
• Where: Singapore Indoor Stadium, Kallang, Singapore
• Live Stream: ESPN+

Demian Maia (27-9) vs. Ben Askren (19-1)

Askren is -180 for this welterweight bout and Maia +150. The Brazilian Maia once fought for the middleweight title but lost to the legendary Anderson Silva. At age 41, Maia isn’t getting another title chance as retirement is on the horizon.

Maia has been a staple of the UFC since he debuted in 2007 and is regarded as one of the greatest grapplers in MMA history. Maia uses double and single leg takedowns as well as trips to advance to a dominant position and soften his opponent up with ground and pound, waiting for an opening for a submission.

While he’s synonymous with his country’s grappling art now, Maia initially trained in judo from the ages of four to six. In his teens, he transitioned to kung fu and karate, and it wasn’t until he was 19 that he made the move to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Maia has seen the final bell in all of his losses but one.

The stoppage came in the very first setback of his MMA career, a 21-second blowout against Nate Marquardt at UFC 102. Maia comes off a majority decision win over Anthony Rocco Martin in June. Round 3 was a stalemate up until the end of the round.

Near the end of the round, Rocco would stun Maia, and Rocco would attempt to tune up the pressure. As Martin was moving in for the kill, Maia tried for a takedown. While not successful, he successfully got Martin to the ground with him. Two judges scored is 29-28 for Maia and one a 28-28 draw.

During his UFC career, Maia has scored 10 submission victories, which ties him with Royce Gracie for the third-most submission wins in UFC history. His 26 submission attempts are also the fifth most all time in the UFC.

What about Askren?

Askren was a four-time All-American wrestler at the University of Missouri and won two national titles. He was also on the 2008 Team USA Olympic team. Askren also is a former ONE welterweight champion and former Bellator welterweight champion who is ranked 11th in the UFC welterweight division.

In November last year, the UFC signed Askren under the “trade UFC and One Championship agreement”, in exchange for former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. Askren made his UFC debut against former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler and won by first-round technical submission.

However, in July against Jorge Masvidal, Askren was knocked out by a flying knee just five seconds in, the fastest KO in UFC history. As soon as the bout started, Masvidal ran across the Octagon and instantly threw a flying knee that connected with Askren’s head. Askren was unconscious on impact and hit the ground. Masvidal came in with a series of unblocked punches before the referee had a chance to come in and pull him off of Askren.

Askren has never been submitted in his 21-fight MMA career. While he has been able to nullify the grappling game of his opponents in MMA, he did suffer a defeat via submission at the 2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships. Askren’s 20 MMA opponents have 163 submission victories between them.

Michael Johnson (20-14) vs. Stevie Ray (22-9)

Johnson is -325 for this lightweight bout and Ray +250. Johnson, a finalist from Season 12 of The Ultimate Fighter, is looking to right the ship after suffering a violent knockout to Josh Emmett at UFC Philadelphia in March. Emmett likely was less than one minute away from a decision loss to Johnson. With one overhand right, he changed everything. Emmett laid out Johnson (19-14 MMA, 11-10 UFC) at the 4:14 mark of the final frame after getting outstruck for two-plus rounds.

“I thought the first was close and he got the second,” Emmett said. “My coaches told me I needed to let it go in the third. I work with a mind coach and before the fight he asked how I saw the fight going. I said I was going to land a huge overhand right and he was going to go out stiff and that’s what happened.”

The setback snapped Johnson’s two-fight win streak, which included decision over Andre Fili and Artem Lobov. This will mark Johnson’s first bout at 155 pounds since his TKO loss to Justin Gaethje in July 2017.

Ray, a former BAMA and Cage Warriors champion, is also looking to recover from his own KO loss, which came at the hands of Leonardo Santos at UFC Stockholm in June. Despite being out of competition for nearly three years, Santos was very comfortable in his return to the cage. The 39-year-old took a few shots while finding his timing find but everything fell into place during an exchange just after the two-minute mark. Ray rushed in for a combination, Santos avoided the punches, and landed a counter right hand falling back that crumbled Ray to the canvas. Ray had only been stopped with strikes once prior to Santos’ handiwork.

Expert UFC Fight Night 162 Betting Picks

Take Askren by submission and Johnson by decision.

Rest of the UFC Fight Night 162 Card

• Frank Camacho vs. Beneil Dariush
• Ciryl Gane vs. Don’tale Mayes
• Muslim Salikhov vs. Laureano Staropoli
• Randa Markos vs. Ashley Yoder
• Alex White vs. Rafael Fiziev
• Enrique Barzola vs. Movsar Evloev
• Sergei Pavlovich vs. Maurice Greene
• Loma Lookboonmee vs. Aleksandra Albu
• Raphael Pessoa Nunes vs. Jeff Hughes

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