Midnight Mania! Conor McGregor, Bare Knuckle Boxer?

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Love him or hate him, it’s hard to deny that Conor McGregor is one of the very best strikers in the MMA game. It’s easy to make jokes about “dat left hand shot,” but the Southpaw’s left has put down plenty of elite opposition, he can both pressure and counter well, and McGregor’s kicking game is quite diverse.

In the clip above, McGregor is asked if he’d be interested in either bare knuckle boxing — like his team mate and friend, Artem Lobov — or Lethwei, the Burmese martial art that involves bare knuckle punches, kicks, knees, and headbutts. McGregor admits while the sports are certainly “damaging,” he still be interested in “giving it a shot.”

Now, of all the potential McGregor match ups to emerge in the previous week or so, this is perhaps the most unlikely. Still, it cannot be completely ruled out if McGregor is truly willing. After all, Floyd Mayweather would boxing up an MMA fighter in one of the biggest sporting events of all time did not seem particularly likely until happened.

The main difference, of course, is that there is far less money in bare knuckle boxing and Lethwei. But who knows … maybe we’re just at the beginning of the Bare Knuckle Era and don’t know it yet.

Insomnia

The Ultimate Fighter had a good run and all, but it was time.

A bit corny, sure, but it made me laugh. Masvidal actually seemed a bit uncomfortable!

On a related note, some “Gamebred” art featuring Kimbo Slice:

Tony Ferguson has definitely stood in the middle of a thunderstorm and dared the lightning to touch him.

It’s time to send Tai Tuivasa to the NFL combine.

Chan Sung Jung is coming for that title.

Is it time to re-brand BJJ? The aftereffects of a heel hook are anything but gentle.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Hell of a headbutt to start this clip, Sumo looks so painful.

An awesome highlight and reminder of just how powerful a single weapon can be:

Staying off the ropes/cage can be easy in theory and difficult in execution.

Random Land

Midnight Mania founder and former host, Andrew Pearson, is now nerding out about prehistoric creatures. My childhood dream job was to be a paleontologist, so when he retweeted this cool thread about “non-pterodactyloid pterosaur tracks,” I found it quite interesting. Click through to learn about this new discovery in detail!

Midnight Music: I’m a big Lou Reed fan, so of course The Modern Lovers are cool too.

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