“Askren can win, he can beat most guys in the division,” said Maia. “He can take a punch, he can take you down. It is very hard to defend against his takedowns. He walks through punches because he has a tough head.”

News coming in on Tuesday that Askren might be considering walking away from the fight game should be cause for some concern both among fans and his fellow fighters.

“What I wanted to do was prove I'm the best in the world, and now I'm looking at how far away that is and how long it's going to take me to get there and trying to weigh all that out,” Askren told Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show.

UFC: Ben Askren considers retiring after Demian Maia loss

The 35-year-old Askren had come to Fight Night 162 with a five-second loss to Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal (34-13) still ringing in his ears. He dealt with that defeat admirably, facing the world almost immediately afterwards, and soaking up the ridicule that inevitably shadowed any mention of the fight on social media.

“Damn it,” Askren said. “It sucks. I was on the brink of getting a title shot. I was right where I needed to be after 10 years of fighting. I’d never really been knocked down. Never been hit that hard. Then, one shot. All that s*** goes down the tubes.”

But the loss to Maia must have hurt even more.

Pre-fight, much of the talk had been about how the bout would inevitably be decided on the ground – which it was – but Askren had by then done just about every single thing right.

He’d obviously found a fault in Maia’s defence, and was regularly landing his uppercut, and he was doing damage – as the stitches under the Brazilian’s eye post-fight confirmed.

Two of the judges’ scorecards at the time had the fight 19-19 and one (at 20-18 to Maia) was obviously from someone watching a different fight.

But in the third round, when Askren took matters to the mat, he also gave Maia a split-second opportunity. And that was all the Brazilian BJJ master (28-9) needed.

“This fight was a bad match up for him,” said Maia. “All his game is to put the guy on the bottom and I have a good bottom game. I have been doing that all my life.”

So Askren’s record went to 19-2, with one no contest, overall and to 1-2 since he traded One Championship for the UFC. The word from the Twittersphere when he signed was that Askren couldn’t entertain, but let’s hang that one out to dry, now.

Throughout his career, Askren’s fights have entertained. In the UFC, they have entertained in their own special way.

The debut win over Robbie “Ruthless” Lawler (28-14, one no contest) showed he has a chin of granite. The loss to Masvidal showed anything can happen in MMA. The loss to Maia showed Askren was – still – a quick learner, and that he was adapting to the rise in class that comes for any fighter with the step up to the UFC.

Askren has been thrown in at the deep end by the UFC’s bosses as a look at the quality of opponent he has been up against will attest. Other fighters know his social media savvy will ensure plenty of interest in any future match-up, and will think that his wrestling-heavy style gives them opportunities. As Saturday night showed, Askren can always help carry a card.

The word from behind-the-scenes was that the disappointment was crushing, but there are plenty who are hoping that Askren sticks around for some time yet. He brings something a little different to the talent-laden welterweight division – as Maia was keen to stress on Saturday.

“Askren is still great,” he said. “The last fight was hard to judge as Masvidal got him early and that happens in MMA. My head coach always says that MMA is like poker. Most of the time the guy who has the best strategy wins but sometimes it comes down to being lucky.”