Midnight Mania: Cruz destroys foul-mouthed Garbrandt, Northcutt trash talks himself into submission, USADA crashes Mighty Mouse date night

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every night …

Welcome to Midnight Mania! This is the weekend edition, and I was recapping some of tonight’s (Sat., Dec. 17, 2016) fights, so it will be shorter than usual. That means you have no excuse not to scroll down and see some of the randomness the mixed martial arts (MMA) world circulates through the Internet.

Sunday Funday

USADA deciding to join Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson… on date night?

nothin like USADA deciding to join me on my date night with @mightywife pic.twitter.com/d5qzLrlszX

— Demetrious Johnson (@MightyMouseUFC) December 19, 2016

Get out of here with that BS, USADA. At what point is enough, enough?

Self promotion on Twitter is a tricky thing sometimes.

How embarrassing. pic.twitter.com/MZbZqjFBGl

— The Naked Gambler (@NakedGambling) December 19, 2016

Hey look whose Twitter account this is.

I had never seen this before pic.twitter.com/qcYlIor8On

— Andrew Pearson (@Vorpality) December 19, 2016

Dan Severn is insane, apparently. And big John McCarthy, just going with it? Amazing. Also, go follow me on Twitter.

Cody, then and now:

What Lil Wayne does to children. pic.twitter.com/EKLz2M6ckx

— Chung F. Kennedy (@ChungFKennedy) December 18, 2016

A little more fun at both Garbrandt and McGregor’s expense:

Gods recognize God’s.
Cody Garbagrant gets a stunning artistic neck tattoo, Conor McGregor in tribute & respect does the same. pic.twitter.com/HFgVtxAc0P

— superCalo (@superCalo) December 18, 2016

I’m a huge fan of Michelle Waterson. She’s just so damn adorable.

Michelle Waterson breaks down her big #ufcsacramento win against Paige VanZant (@ekc) pic.twitter.com/t7vUhA4pqk

— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) December 18, 2016

Let’s hope the high exposure she got on Saturday night and the impressive win over Paige VanZant means she gets a promotional push. UFC on Fox 22 did above-average numbers, at least from the overnight ratings:

UFC on FOX 22 overnight ratings are in: 2.69 million. .9 rating with a 4 share. This will rise. How much is unclear. https://t.co/GjSQDWdHXB

— Luke Thomas (@SBNLukeThomas) December 18, 2016

That’s up from last December’s UFC on FOX 17, which earned 2.28 million in overnights & 2014’s December UFC on FOX 13 at 2.27 million.

— Luke Thomas (@SBNLukeThomas) December 18, 2016

Watch this recap of Saturday’s great fights and why Mayweather-McGregor is for dupes:

Just one sweet KO for you today. Check Grabaka_Hitman’s Twitter feed for more.

Butorin KO’s Bostwick angle #2 #ACB50 pic.twitter.com/fwAfCSXvB8

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) December 18, 2016

So, remember how the UFC claimed Conor “relinquished” the belt and we collectively rolled our eyes at the false implications? Yeah, turns out no such conversation occurred on McGregor’s end. If you believe him, that is, and I do.

Basking in all of my options pic.twitter.com/7UkyoWAxk2

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 16, 2016

Just another reason to watch obscure MMA shows.

Chill the fuck out, camera guy #ACB50 pic.twitter.com/pm79uqlhxO

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) December 18, 2016

I can’t deny that frustration is warranted at the descriptions of female fighters:

“Beauty…and aggression!!” #UFCSacramento pic.twitter.com/kGfvJtfrnn

— Yellow Power Ranger (@Sugarhigh5me) December 18, 2016

I mean … this is adorable, though. Come on.

people are different sizes pic.twitter.com/YuUGkdAwbP

— papadopoulos (@pdlmma) December 18, 2016

The fights tonight were pretty great, though, all told. For full UFC on FOX 22: “VanZant vs. Waterson” results and play-by-play, click here

For the awkward interview in which Dominick Cruz verbally annihilated Cody Garbrandt several times over ahead of their UFC 207 showdown, I’ve got that right here. And it’s right up our alley.

Full Cruz vs Cody Interview #UFC207 pic.twitter.com/eCGWtWOqRX

— Zombie Prophet (@ZPGIFs) December 18, 2016

“I was able to buy a house with all the wins I got over your team.” My god. Ice cold.

— Patrick Wyman (@Patrick_Wyman) December 18, 2016

I mean, that’s what we ought to expect from the guy who did this:

Never forget when Dominick Cruz wonka’d everybody https://t.co/4IIAvvHy5c

— papadopoulos (@pdlmma) December 17, 2016

This images also sums up Dominick Cruz’s trash talking style #UFCSacramento pic.twitter.com/l3F20Qf6oC

— Tommy Toe Hold (@TommyToeHold) December 18, 2016

Here is a visual corollary to the verbal sparring:

Where’s Herb Dean when ya need him? pic.twitter.com/KuhI9saj2z

— Zombie Prophet (@ZPGIFs) December 17, 2016

See how “No Love” stuck with him, but got absolutely rag-dolled in a hard-to-watch segment that went on for far too long? Yep. Let’s hope the in-cage fight at UFC 207 on Dec. 30 live on pay-per-view (PPV) isn’t that bad … for Garbrandt’s sake.

Speaking of in-cage violence …

Urijah Faber has given us a lot of entertainment over the years. He is a true pioneer of the sport.

Faber on his first fight: It was $200 to show, $200 to win. I didn’t tell my Mom because I knew she would be pissed.

— Dave Doyle (@davedoylemma) December 18, 2016

Here’s how his curtain-call fight went down:

Mickey Gall knocked down Sage Northcutt … then choked him out.

However, “Super” did experience an important evolution in his career: He learned how to trash talk!

Mickey Gall says Sage Northcutt cut him and then told him “there’s about to be another one!”. Trash talking Sage!#UFCSacramento

— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) December 18, 2016

Here’s Gall with a little more detail:

And, afterward …

Sage meeting the Diaz bros and crew is the best

— Megan Olivi (@MeganOlivi) December 18, 2016

Cuz they’re the 3 best friends that anyone could have! pic.twitter.com/N4Dln8D3eo

— Megan Olivi (@MeganOlivi) December 18, 2016

I mean … Northcutt with some Diaz trash talk and Brazilian jiu-jitsu? Come on now. He could do with all of that.

This has not been a great weekend for “Platinum” Mike Perry. First he made this weird-ass noise yesterday at the weigh-ins, then he got knocked down and outstruck by a cover model, Alan Jouban. Twitter was all in with the schadenfreude, too:

Mike Perry went like four minutes without throwing a single strike.

Platinum, baby.

— The Naked Gambler (@NakedGambling) December 18, 2016

I mean, he’s easy to make fun of, fairly or not.

Mike Perry is the most stereotypical MMA fighter.

Got out of jail, trained at an officially branded UFC gym, lists Donald Trump as his hero pic.twitter.com/fnfC2K7XSX

— Fury’s Fight Picks (@FurysFightPicks) December 17, 2016

Seriously, you wouldn’t put Mike Perry’s tattoos on a video game character you created. You’d know it wouldn’t be funny after a week or so.

— Ben Fowlkes (@benfowlkesMMA) December 18, 2016

That’s cold, man.

Great fight, though:

On the Fight Pass “Prelims,” Eddie Wineland knocked out Takeya Mizugaki:

HUGE right! @EddieWineland smelling the finish! #UFCSacramento pic.twitter.com/FSvQXMDQhI

— UFC (@ufc) December 17, 2016

This Fight Mom documentary looks interesting (if you’ve got 80 spare minutes):

If you’re just learning about @karatehottiemma for the first time, set aside 80 minutes and watch this: https://t.co/MuD3q6atHu

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 18, 2016

“King Mo” got the win last night at Bellator 169, but no one in attendance was very thrilled with the fight.

Hands down…. and BAM @KingMoFH vs @SatoshiIshii #Bellator169 pic.twitter.com/AJzT8z1kCl

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) December 17, 2016

… except whoever made this .GIF for Bellator. Guess they’ve got to push their names regardless.

It took me a couple takes to catch what was going on with this photo…

Haters will say it’s photoshopped #KillerCub pic.twitter.com/X8FHHNbXdH

— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) December 17, 2016

Quick Hits

  • Read this great article by Ben Fowlkes on Greg Jackson’s dad jokes and why they make him an excellent cornerman.
  • Dominick Cruz seems to have finally buried the hatchet with old rival Urijah Faber now that Faber has officially retired.
  • Read this opinion piece on the cost of a war like Swanson-Choi. Nothing like a good strong take … even one you disagree with.
  • Speaking of good strong takes, if you haven’t read this excellent Fanpost by MMA Mania poster unambig yet, go do it. Certainly an unambiguous opinion you can sink your teeth into. (Original, I know)

Rad Randomness:

Random DJ’ing Uber. All of this would be completely incomprehensible to someone 20 years ago.

Everyone: 2016 could not possibly get worse
Me: *dies in a car crash while my Uber driver is literally DJing* pic.twitter.com/bapZrGhLzP

— Alex Naidus (@hotdoorknobs) December 17, 2016

Stay woke, Maniacs.

[email protected] to petition me to stop writing about women’s MMA so much. Or, perhaps, convince me to only write about women’s MMA.

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every night …

Welcome to Midnight Mania! This is the weekend edition, and I was recapping some of tonight’s (Sat., Dec. 17, 2016) fights, so it will be shorter than usual. That means you have no excuse not to scroll down and see some of the randomness the mixed martial arts (MMA) world circulates through the Internet.

Sunday Funday

USADA deciding to join Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson… on date night?

Get out of here with that BS, USADA. At what point is enough, enough?

Self promotion on Twitter is a tricky thing sometimes.

Hey look whose Twitter account this is.

Dan Severn is insane, apparently. And big John McCarthy, just going with it? Amazing. Also, go follow me on Twitter.

Cody, then and now:

A little more fun at both Garbrandt and McGregor’s expense:

I’m a huge fan of Michelle Waterson. She’s just so damn adorable.

Let’s hope the high exposure she got on Saturday night and the impressive win over Paige VanZant means she gets a promotional push. UFC on Fox 22 did above-average numbers, at least from the overnight ratings:

Watch this recap of Saturday’s great fights and why Mayweather-McGregor is for dupes:

Just one sweet KO for you today. Check Grabaka_Hitman’s Twitter feed for more.

So, remember how the UFC claimed Conor “relinquished” the belt and we collectively rolled our eyes at the false implications? Yeah, turns out no such conversation occurred on McGregor’s end. If you believe him, that is, and I do.

Just another reason to watch obscure MMA shows.

I can’t deny that frustration is warranted at the descriptions of female fighters:

I mean … this is adorable, though. Come on.

The fights tonight were pretty great, though, all told. For full UFC on FOX 22: “VanZant vs. Waterson” results and play-by-play, click here

For the awkward interview in which Dominick Cruz verbally annihilated Cody Garbrandt several times over ahead of their UFC 207 showdown, I’ve got that right here. And it’s right up our alley.

I mean, that’s what we ought to expect from the guy who did this:

Here is a visual corollary to the verbal sparring:

See how “No Love” stuck with him, but got absolutely rag-dolled in a hard-to-watch segment that went on for far too long? Yep. Let’s hope the in-cage fight at UFC 207 on Dec. 30 live on pay-per-view (PPV) isn’t that bad … for Garbrandt’s sake.

Speaking of in-cage violence …

Urijah Faber has given us a lot of entertainment over the years. He is a true pioneer of the sport.

Here’s how his curtain-call fight went down:

Mickey Gall knocked down Sage Northcutt … then choked him out.

However, “Super” did experience an important evolution in his career: He learned how to trash talk!

Here’s Gall with a little more detail:

And, afterward …

I mean … Northcutt with some Diaz trash talk and Brazilian jiu-jitsu? Come on now. He could do with all of that.

This has not been a great weekend for “Platinum” Mike Perry. First he made this weird-ass noise yesterday at the weigh-ins, then he got knocked down and outstruck by a cover model, Alan Jouban. Twitter was all in with the schadenfreude, too:

I mean, he’s easy to make fun of, fairly or not.

That’s cold, man.

Great fight, though:

On the Fight Pass “Prelims,” Eddie Wineland knocked out Takeya Mizugaki:

This Fight Mom documentary looks interesting (if you’ve got 80 spare minutes):

“King Mo” got the win last night at Bellator 169, but no one in attendance was very thrilled with the fight.

… except whoever made this .GIF for Bellator. Guess they’ve got to push their names regardless.

It took me a couple takes to catch what was going on with this photo…

Quick Hits

  • Read this great article by Ben Fowlkes on Greg Jackson’s dad jokes and why they make him an excellent cornerman.
  • Dominick Cruz seems to have finally buried the hatchet with old rival Urijah Faber now that Faber has officially retired.
  • Read this opinion piece on the cost of a war like Swanson-Choi. Nothing like a good strong take … even one you disagree with.
  • Speaking of good strong takes, if you haven’t read this excellent Fanpost by MMA Mania poster unambig yet, go do it. Certainly an unambiguous opinion you can sink your teeth into. (Original, I know)

Rad Randomness:

Random DJ’ing Uber. All of this would be completely incomprehensible to someone 20 years ago.

Stay woke, Maniacs.

[email protected] to petition me to stop writing about women’s MMA so much. Or, perhaps, convince me to only write about women’s MMA.