Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC
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Welcome to Midnight Mania!
When Darren Till moved to Middleweight and immediately accepted the challenge of facing Kelvin Gastelum in his 185-pound debut, a lot of people did not like the match. Many fans thought it was too much for Till after his recent losses, and Dana White even had to publicly defend the match up.
Of course, there was an upside to the risk for Till. When the Englishman won a competitive decision over the recent title-challenger, he immediately introduced himself to both the top five and title mix. At the moment, Till is angling for a showdown with Robert Whittaker in London, which would very likely be a title eliminator for “The Gorilla.”
However, not everyone is happy about Till’s fast rise, and that number includes “Prime Time.”
So I heard @darrentill2 said something about he’s happy that all the middle weights are calling him out lol and he’s the money fight.. bro you’re like the guy that skip’t the line at Starbucks we just all want to beat your ass for it
— U R I A H H A L L (@UriahHallMMA) December 5, 2019
On one level, there is a bit of legitimacy to Hall’s complaint: Till did receive an immediate opportunity against a top-ranked fighter. However, Till also managed to win that bout — he deserves his current status.
As for Hall, he’s rebounded well from a rough period, winning his last couple fights. Perhaps if he’s able to put together another couple wins — or if Till were to lose his next bout — a match up between the two would make sense.
It would certainly be a fun kickboxing match.
Insomnia
Meanwhile, Till is busy on Instagram chatting sh*t with team mate Mike Grundy.
More feisty Middleweight action on IG: Kelvin Gastelum is trying to secure a fight with Whittaker also!
Weili Zhang just hits harder than most of her peers with every weapon.
Breaking: Stefan Struve is tall, Urijah Faber is short.
Just made this wonderful photo happen. #UFCDC @UrijahFaber @StefanStruve pic.twitter.com/YKg1Nerdmt
— Mike Bohn (@MikeBohnMMA) December 6, 2019
Why do so many of y’all I have Joe Rogan ink? I know it’s our readers doing this.
…
Is this the great advertisement of all time?
Slips, rips, and KO clips
One of my favorite things is watching old amateur/early pro fights of current UFC fighters. All of your favorites started out in crappy gymnasiums, middle-of-nowhere casinos, and sketchy bars!
Reminder: Song Yadong returns to the cage Saturday night, and that man is scary fast.
Perfect spinning back fist to reset after the kick:
Random Land
The legacy of the Jackass crew lives on:
This commentary is spot-on… pic.twitter.com/zKXfN0skGh
— Rex Chapman (@RexChapman) December 5, 2019
Midnight Music: I prefer late career, experimental Tom Waits to his earlier work, but that doesn’t mean drunk and jazzy Waits isn’t also great!
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.