Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight …
Welcome to Midnight Mania! Tonight we’ve got Jason Momoa doing the Haka for Mark Hunt’s next fight, Sage Northcutt’s tonsils, Manuwa-Oezemir rumors, Jose Aldo being a freak athlete, knockouts, toe holds and much more.
New Zealand Warriors
Jason Momoa is probably best known for his role in Game of Thrones as Khal Drogo. I first remember him as Ronan, the blaster-wielding space warrior from Stargate Atlantis. Most recently, he is filming as AquaMan in the upcoming DC Comics movie after the same name.
He was also present to take part in Mark Hunt’s sendoff, involving the traditional New Zealand pre-battle “Haka” dance. Here they kneel in support for Hunt, which clearly moved “Super Samoan.”
It was a meaningful sendoff for Hunt, who faces heavy hitter Derrick Lewis in his upcoming main event at UFC Fight Night 110 in Auckland, New Zealand, on June 11, 2017.
Other famous Haka in modern times:
Insomnia
Stipe saw an opportunity to put his unique skillset to use watching that sloppy brawl I wrote about yesterday.
Thinking about making a comeback to baseball after watching the @Bharper3407 fight!
— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocicufc) May 31, 2017
I didn’t know Tito did this.
20 years ago when I fought for free in the @UFC so I could keep my wrestling scholarship. Only one to ever do it. #dedication https://t.co/RVbYuTauGh
— Tito Ortiz (@titoortiz) May 31, 2017
This is disgusting.
On #themmahour today, @sagenorthcutt talked about his massive tonsils getting put in a jar after surgery. Here’s proof. Looks like dumplings pic.twitter.com/CehFUmd70n
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 30, 2017
The interview:
.@sagenorthcutt talks to #TheMMAHour about tonsil surgery and popsicles. Watch the whole show here: https://t.co/3NTr8LV3sl pic.twitter.com/gFyZlxyClq
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) May 31, 2017
Demetrious Johnson puts his reputation behind saving something important to him
“please sign this petition & help #SaveBSUwrestling” alot of great talent comes out of this program https://t.co/29r7VGg5S0
— Demetrious Johnson (@MightyMouseUFC) May 29, 2017
Lomachenko with the shade directed at Guillermo Rigondeaux
Ready to go back to work! Coming back to the US this Friday to get ready. #Next
— Hi-Tech Lomachenko (@VasylLomachenko) May 30, 2017
Ready to put on a show for the fans, not put people to sleep.
— Hi-Tech Lomachenko (@VasylLomachenko) May 31, 2017
This would be the perfect fight to make at Light Heavyweight
All parties on board with the idea of Jimi Manuwa x Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 214, per multiple sources, but it’s not a done deal just yet.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 31, 2017
USADA doing its thing …
Slips, Rips, and KO Clips
Yeah, this was pretty violent.
That moment when #UFC Hall of Famer @PatMiletich responds to the sheer violence of your KO with “Aaaaghhh!!!” #LFA13@AlonzoMenifield pic.twitter.com/mGWoNe8Vfc
— LFA (@LFAfighting) May 30, 2017
Consider me very hyped for Jose Aldo vs. Max Holloway!
Jose Aldo isn’t human. pic.twitter.com/Z4TK1ky8in
— Patrick Wyman (@Patrick_Wyman) May 30, 2017
First one to bring up “McGregor” or “13 seconds” in the comments gets a special prize for being a special kind of individual.
— Streetfight Bancho (@streetfitebanch) May 30, 2017
Yeah normal people can’t do things like this.
— Richard Heck (@JoshPuklavetz) May 30, 2017
Another scintillating Brazilian headlines the prelims. Time to see what Marlon Moraes has got for us.
FYI, Marlon Moraes makes his UFC debut on Saturday. #UFC212 pic.twitter.com/t0XcTbndou
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) May 28, 2017
Great promo video!
José Aldo vs Max Holloway #UFC212 pic.twitter.com/GkVoecCj3t
— Scott Bond (@_ScottBond_) May 14, 2017
Some international action …
Yoshinori Horie advances to the Featherweight Neo Blood finals pic.twitter.com/cCv4021Idk
— MEGATON (@BasedDongeezus) May 31, 2017
Yuki Ota advances to the Lightweight Neo Blood finals with a 27 second toe hold finish pic.twitter.com/RuFyGW0sMj
— MEGATON (@BasedDongeezus) May 31, 2017
This is what we refer to as a “brawl”, kids
Talk about a war
Brian Stann vs Wanderlei Silva?????? pic.twitter.com/jEOKsxgASL
— TheRootsofFighting (@RootsOfFighting) May 29, 2017
Good Reads
- Kajan Johnson discusses that standup confrontation he had with the Reebok rep and the UFC, and the meeting that followed. He called the Reebok rep a “sociopathic capitalist”, which is pretty great, but the follow-up meeting doesn’t give me a lot of hope for any improvement from the UFC or Reebok.
- I featured a few of the knockouts, but here is the story behind that crazy KSW event in Poland with Satanists, eyeball-tattooed rappers, and strongmen, which apparently filled 58,000 seats.
- Schwan Humes returns with the second part of his Wonder Woman breakdown, explaining which actual MMA fighters she resembles and how her refusal to back down from anything is a weakness she shares with a particularly famous female fighter.
Podcasts and Video
The MMA Hour
MMAmania.com’s Flyin’ Brian J. with his UFC 212 Beer Pairing:
UFC 212 Beer Pairing with Flyin’ Brian J – White Rascal by @AveryBrewingCo https://t.co/1EGM6r6gjV via @mmamania
— Flyin’ Brian J (@FlyinBrianJ) May 31, 2017
And MMAmania.com’s Andrew Richardson breaks down Max Holloway’s combination striking …
Random Land
This is a bi-partisan problem, so this doesn’t count as political, but it’s fun to watch the discomfort on display here.
Watch as Stuart Jones, a high-level acting official in the State Dept, is asked why they criticize Iranian elections but never Saudi Arabia: pic.twitter.com/RLkKGn48Z7
— Alex Emmons (@AlexanderEmmons) May 30, 2017
Wanna have some real fun? Read this survey of experts’ opinions on how soon machine intelligence will replace all human jobs. Fun, fun, fun.
Stay woke, Maniacs!
Follow me on Twitter @Vorpality
As I mentioned yesterday, I am going on a vacation to hunt coyotes from ultralight using night vision. Obviously, that rules out writing Midnight Mania. When I return with my bag limit of coyote pelts, I expect you to have left some sweet comments under the placeholder posts I’ll set up.