Midnight Mania! You’ll Never Believe How Ortega’s Face Looks a Week Later

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Brian Ortega has access to some dark magic, or he has an X-man healing factor, or maybe he just has really good skin. A week after taking a UFC-record 290 significant strikes from Max Holloway, here is Brian Ortega today:

In case you forgot, this is what Max Holloway did to Brian Ortega a week ago:

This is a close-up of what his face looked like:

I can’t figure it out. It’s almost as astonishing a recovery as Tyson Fury casually getting up from Deontay Wilder’s sure knockout. Maybe Ortega’s selfie is just taking advantage of some really good lighting. He still has some discoloration under his left eye, but otherwise… he looks fine. Remember, Ortega received a provisional six-month suspension for his UFC 231 loss. The doctors had to stop the fight because he couldn’t see out of his eye, a decision all of us, including Ortega, agreed with, because he said he was willing to die in the Octagon.

A week later, he looks ready to take a stroll on Malibu beach, not like a man who was on the losing end of the most intense title fight in UFC history. If he’s got some secret skin-care regime, I want to know. This is a mystery.

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Insomnia

Speaking of crazy recoveries, Ed Ruth was tapped out by Neiman Gracie this Saturday. Now, look at him.

Conor McGregor says he’s launching rockets in 2019

Eddie Alvarez doesn’t get the point of this drill, which is to feed the ego of the bald guy.

This is information from a hearing between lawyers. Per Suzanne Davis, Rachael Ostovich’s husband is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing tomorrow.

This doesn’t always work, but its still a smart move by Anderson Silva ahead of his bout with Israel Adesanya. Alex Pereira is the only man to knock Adesanya out in the kickboxing ring.

Of course, this was an equally smart move:

Dan Hooker had a concussion too after that fight with Edson Barboza, probably the most brutal bodywork I have ever seen in MMA

Seriously, I can’t recall seeing someone take that many blows to the gut in one fight. Even Eddie Alvarez vs. Justin Gaethje wasn’t as intense as this.

Wishing Sean Strickland a swift and smooth recovery after his motorcycle accident

Yes, people are still teaching BS in 2018

Mike Bisping is a sucker for fluffballs, evidently

Too soon

Tony Ferguson says he said yes to an opponent for Anaheim, but the other fighter evidently didn’t want the bout.

Chris Weidman congratulates his teammate Al Iaquinta on a fantastic underdog win. This is a scary guy to have coming after you in the cage.

Yeah… that lost shot is dirty

This could be a wrestling clinic for Zabit Magomedsharipov but my gut tells me Jeremy Stephens will knock him the f—- out.

Al seems to think Gaethje would be a step back, but this is the fight the fans want

Give Michael Chandler a break, he just won his belt back

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Slips. Rips. KO Clips.

This Invicta KO might have been the most shocking knockout of the weekend, and that’s saying something

It wasn’t a good weekend for fighter midsections

Congrats to Ilima-Lei Macfarlane for retaining her Bellator flyweight title

Distance control:

Road FC brought the violence

Falling ‘em with style

Genuinely good head movement remains the most impressive skillset in all of martial arts to me

Joaquim Silva doesn’t care.

Machine-gun punches

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Random Land

This thread is a trip if you decide to click through

“Sleep, you black-eyed pig

Fall into a deep pit full of ghosts.”

-Icelandic mothers wanted their children to have nightmares in the early 19th century, evidently.

Sleep well, Maniacs! A better tomorrow is always possible. Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @Vorpality