Midnight Mania! Poirier Still Chasing Diaz Scrap

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After coming up short in his title bid opposite Khabib Nurmagomedov, Dust…

UFC 236: Holloway v Poirier 2

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

After coming up short in his title bid opposite Khabib Nurmagomedov, Dustin Poirier’s path forward is a bit unclear. “The Diamond” has flirted with the idea of moving up to 170 lbs. for the right opponent, but he’s also been calling for a rematch with Conor McGregor. Ultimately, Poirier closed the door on competing again in 2019, opting to go into surgery to repair his hip.

One potential future foe for Poirier is Nate Diaz, who headlines Saturday night’s UFC 244 main event opposite Poirier’s team mate Jorge Masvidal. The two were once booked to fight back at UFC 230, but it didn’t end up working out — a result Diaz claimed as a victory over “The Diamond.”

Earlier today on Twitter, Poirier expressed continued interest in facing Diaz.

In addition, Poirier revealed that his name was in consideration to face Diaz at UFC 244 this weekend. It was only after negotiations stalled (again) that Poirier instead chose to take the time off and recovery from his injury.

Despite the bout failing to materialize twice now, Poirier still wants a chance to throw hands with Diaz. Regardless of which man wins the BMF title, that’s an excellent match up. There’s a reason Diaz has at least considered fighting Poirier twice: both fans and Diaz himself would be excited for that type of scrap.

Think it ever happens?

Insomnia

Without promising anything, it appears that I’ll be fighting on November 16th! There’s still time if any readers want to enter the banner raffle. $5 or more (Paypal, Venmo, GoFundMe) gets your name or username on the banner, and I’ll randomly pick a winner after the fight and ship it out. Anyone who donated to the last fight camp before it got cancelled is still on the list!

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A LOT of the content I provide this week will likely highlight Jorge Masvidal, who’s been one of my favorite fighters to watch for many years. It’s awesome to see him getting his due, much like it was great to see Nate Diaz became a star with the McGregor saga.

Some interesting betting info for UFC 244:

Mastering this tactic will greatly improve one’s ability to finish a choke.

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Developing the Squeeze: Isometric Ramping for Chokes •••••••••••••••••••••••• How often do you hear that someone is “mat strong”? Often this means that the person may not be able lift impressive weight but has a functional strength while grappling. While body mechanics and leverage help assist with “mat strength”, I believe this person will have a high ability to isometrically resist an opponent. . Grappling is often a game of inches as two opponents battle for positions and specific areas of control. Isometric strength is the ability to maintain a resistance against an unyielding force. When it comes to grappling it is not necessarily that someone is strong isometrically, because this just means they are only strong at one specific range of motion (+/- 10 degrees) but they have the ability to isometrically ramp and recruit more motor units for their desired task when necessary. . The ability to isometrically ramp is critical for developing efficient choking skills, this is something @eddiebravo10p calls “The squeeze”. How often do you see beginners get a choke and squeeze as hard as they can and burn out before getting the submission? . A lesson I learned from my friend @jamesdriskill , Rickson Gracie black belt, when applying a choke you start with a 10% contraction, then bump up to 20%, then to 30% and so on. Usually by the time you are contracting/squeezing at 40% maximum they tap or are rendered unconscious. This is slowly ramping up activation of the motor units in your arms so that you can continuously apply pressure without exhausting your muscles. . Isometric ramping is a skill many grapplers develop unconsciously over time, however if you feel you lack the control it is an important aspect to address. It is very demoralizing when you are in the perfect position to finish an opponent but lack the muscle control to finish because your arms burn out.

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Two of Colorado’s best fighters working together:

Amanda Nunes is genuinely funny.

Speaking of funny, if you don’t find Mike Perry entertaining, we cannot be friends.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Masvidal’s knockout of Cerrone was a thing of beauty. The left hand catch-and-sweep of the switch kick was a perfectly executed counter … twice!

If it doesn’t work the first time, try it again but with a jump!

Look, I don’t know WTF is happening either, but I feel obligated to share.

Random Land

This Happy Gilmore-style baseball catch from the World Series is must-watch.

Midnight Music: Given a bit of time to digest the albums that released on Friday, I’ll quickly sum up my thoughts on the ones I’ve spent time with. Ariel Pink and the Desert Sessions both released compilations, and they’re both quite good, if a bit uneven. Swans’ album Leaving Meaning is their prettiest work since the early ‘90s and I really liked it, though I do generally prefer the heavier moments. Lastly, Kanye West’s Jesus Is King is a sloppy and boring mess, and this is coming from a huge Kanye fan. There’s plenty of great music with religious themes and inspirations — this isn’t it.

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.