Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!
Welcome to Midnight Mania!
First and foremost, congratulations to Amanda Nunes and Nina Ansaroff! The longtime couple have been talking about having children since at least 2017, and it was decided then that Ansaroff would carry the child. One of them was going to face a layoff, and it’s likely hard to argue against the double champion in terms of status and pay that “Lioness” brings in for the family.
Fortunately, many moms have returned to MMA without issue. Michelle Waterson is a noted example, as she expressed her desire to become the first “Mom Champ” in the Octagon. That hasn’t quite worked out yet, but Waterson did climb up into the top five of the Strawweight division with her daughter at her side for all the open workouts. More recently, former Olympic wrestler Sara McMann returned to the cage after an 18 month layoff and newborn, winning in dominant fashion.
In short, don’t expect Ansaroff to return until early 2021 at best. Nunes, meanwhile, will be holding down the Featherweight fort opposite Felicia Spencer at UFC 250 on Sat. May 9, 2020 inside Ginasio do Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Insomnia
Yoel Romero seems like a fun guy and all, but he’s simultaneously a very frightening individual.
“You don’t wanna know.” #UFC248 pic.twitter.com/Ko0g1WNq4M
— Borrachinha Depot (@FullContactMTWF) March 5, 2020
Cat Zingano shows off her acrobatic skills and strength.
A little boxing lesson from one of the sport’s best:
Nothing like having the pound for pound Champion Canelo Álvarez giving KingRy a valuable lesson on delivering a body shot to the liver. @abeG718 @danrafaelespn @Woodsy1069 @dougiefischer @cynthia_conte @osunaespn @OscarDeLaHoya pic.twitter.com/XAshsBaMVV
— Procoachhenry (@henrygarcia111) March 4, 2020
Caposa with a really cool piece of MMA history, which highlights the sudden rises of both Israel Adesanya and Weili Zhang.
Just realizing the China connection between Adesanya and Zhang. Four years ago, the only way to watch these two fight outside China was a sketchy stream that gave you malware. Now they’re UFC champions headlining a PPV together. #UFC248 pic.twitter.com/gPzbIcjlJ6
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) March 5, 2020
This video is a great technique, but the opening makes me laugh. I love the grappling community’s general lack of concern for germs: it’s hard to worry about much after having someone’s sweat drip into your eyeball. If the Coronavirus is truly the plague some believe it to be, I expect jiu-jitsu gyms to be the last holdout among public spaces.
Meanwhile, the rest of society:
Be careful with bands!
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Both the elbow and chin landed right on the tip of the chin — that’s not good!
Zach Junkin comes away from #BTC9Rampage with the fastest victory in BTC history
Coming in officially at 0:26 Junkin dethrones Julius Trimmeliti’s 0:27 guillotine submission from BTC 5: Typhoon by one second
: @JHagholm & @GentlemanJHill pic.twitter.com/7zE4q0scAF
— BTC Fight Promotions (@btcfight) March 4, 2020
Want to help end wall-n-stall and lay-n-pray in MMA? Make knees to a downed opponent legal, cowards.
Keita Fukushima finishes Ryo Sawada pic.twitter.com/kKylVB0olm
— MEGATON (AYA & Nanaka International Stan Account) (@BasedDongeezus) March 5, 2020
The 2-1 sent this man flying!
Random Land
Messing with cats is fair game, because they 100% will get payback later.
Midnight Music: I like both Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Weili Zhang, but Zhang’s “SHUT UP!” was a great response to whatever Joanna Violence was gabbing about.
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.