Midnight Mania! McGregor to Cerrone: Whiskey Offer ‘Sounds Like a Party’

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Donald Cerrone seems more and more likely to land the biggest fight in MMA, Conor McGregor. McGregor offered to fight Cerrone after ‘…

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Donald Cerrone seems more and more likely to land the biggest fight in MMA, Conor McGregor. McGregor offered to fight Cerrone after ‘Cowboy’ beat the brakes off Alex Hernandez in a bonus-winning performance on the UFC’s debut on ESPN (see the highlights). Today, he posted an offer on Instagram to drink the Notorious Irishman’s whiskey, Proper 12, at the pre-fight presser, the kind of offer Khabib Nurmagomedov famously turned down due to the tenets of his Islamic faith.

Don’t worry @thenotoriousmma I’ll drink @properwhiskey at the Press Conference with ya!! Hell I’ll bring the @budweiser

McGregor responded “Sounds like a party!” in the comments. It would be highly unusual to see a Conor McGregor respecting and having fun with his opponent before a fight. He should beware, though. Friendly, relaxed Donald Cerrone is the most dangerous Donald Cerrone.


McGregor seems to be back in the gym training, as he also posted this today.

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A post shared by Conor McGregor Official (@thenotoriousmma) on

‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, meanwhile, is doing what Cowboy does: riding a snowmobile in the great outdoors.

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Turbos and fresh tracks

A post shared by Donald Cerrone (@cowboycerrone) on

Donald Cerrone is in many ways the perfect opponent for McGregor. He’s been a model UFC fighter for years, taking on any and all opponents, no questions asked, on short notice, and beating most of them. He has well-documented weaknesses to the high-pressure style McGregor prefers, but also poses a legitimate threat on the mat. He has a name, at least among hardcore fans, and a persona that works well opposite a proven draw in McGregor.

Imagine the kind of promo video you can cut: Cerrone, riding his horse on his ranch, a light dusting of snow on the mountains; McGregor driving an Aston Martin in his suit, the city lights flashing off his sunglasses. That’s… about all you need, actually. Maybe throw in a showdown at a dusty saloon, like that old Anderson Silva vs. Steven Seagal commercial. (The outtakes were great too, by the way)

Insomnia

It turns out reports of Ronda Rousey’s departure were greatly exaggerated, but she is considering taking a break to start a family.

Sweet chin music outta nowhere

I’m sure these exercises are useful and easy on the joints but Georges St. Pierre still looks silly doing them.

When you and your partner are professional fighters but also love each other

Yeah… not so sure about that one

Bellator flyweight champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane has an interesting take on motivation: she lacks it for herself, and piggybacks on others’ expectations of her to achieve greatness. Success looks different for different people.

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LONG POST IF YOU CARE TO READ I basically have been on a 5 week long vacation since my last fight and just started going back to the gym this week. Even though my body hates me right now, I’m relieved to be home and back on my routine. However, I definitely needed some motivation to bring myself in. What a lot of people don’t know about me is that I have THE WORST internal motivation. By internal motivation I mean that if I don’t have to make weight for a fight or go to a team workout, I’ll sit my ass at home and eat cookies. I hate working out. Period. Sure I’ll feel better after a hard session, but I also feel better after cleaning my house. You wanna know the reason why I even started fighting in the first place? Cause Manolo told me to. That’s right. I’m only in this position as a world champion because my coaches kept telling me what to do and I listened because I wanted to please them. THEY were my motivation. And I found out that what I need, what I thrive on is EXTERNAL motivation. I cannot bring myself to get off of the couch for a run if I don’t have a reason to. That reason could be me getting booked for a fight, me promising a teammate that I would lift with them, or even me paying for an expensive ass month long yoga membership and trying to get my money’s worth. But I know that that reason won’t come from within me, and I’m ok with that. Everyone has their different motivations for getting up and doing shit, and mine is simply because I have to, not because I want to. I’m an “obliger” and I’m fine with being on vacation until someone tells me to get off of my ass. You don’t need to have a crazy internal drive to be active or to be world champion, you just need to find ways to trick yourself into doing it. So anyway, since I’m in the gym full-time again maybe that means I have some news for you. You may even want to watch the @bellatormma fights this Saturday . P.S. I chose this picture of me from three years ago in fight shape cause some would think that wanting to look good all the time is enough motivation to workout. Nah lol. My body goes through seasons and I accept each one. I also wanted more likes. #thirstythursday #tbt #fakeabs @tc1gel

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Anthony Smith doesn’t care.

Gregor Gillespie fishing in ice-cold water

Mighty Mouse sparring with the warrior who will one day kill him

Aaron Pico thinks a win would put him in title contention, but Bellator hasn’t told him anything about future plans.

What a knockout

Great counter kick:

I really enjoy Karate Combat’s aesthetic

These guys are tired

Sonned him:

Airborn

Good contest

Great armdrag!

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