Midnight Mania! Whittaker And Till Agree To Post-Quarantine Fat Boy Fight

Per Haljestam-USA TODAY Sports

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

With a huge percentage of fighters unbooked due to the global pandemic, there are lots of hypothetical match ups being thrown around. Some of these fighters were booked briefly then cancelled, while others are entirely new creations only possible because of the sudden availability of most everyone on the UFC roster.

There are obstacles however: gyms are almost universally closed, and even meeting up with a team mate can result in fines in many sections of the world.

One discussed match up pits former Middleweight champion Robert Whittaker opposite fellow striker Darren Till. Regarding the complications of fighting under COVID-19, both men are fortunately more open than most. Whittaker has publicly discussed the burnout of being champion, while Till is on Instagram puffing his belly out to emphasize his quarantined weight gain.

Despite the unprecedented circumstances, the two are still willing to fight. However, Whittaker offered a gentleman’s agreement to keep things fair: don’t train, fight at a catchweight, and then “light it up!”

As if there were any doubt, Till has responded in the affirmative. Hell, he might be eating chips and dip to prepare at this very moment.

Till also wrote up the following “bout agreement” in an Instagram comment, “I Darren Till, agree to a catchweight of 95-100kg for august 15th fight night dublin, and agree that after the fight we go chippn, dippn and drinking in Dublin… signed Darren Till.”

Whittaker and Till’s candid agreement is awesome, and it should happen more often. Without access to the necessary training, it’s important to recognize that fighters are not going to be performing at their absolute best. Plus, sidestepping a majority of the weight cut will help keep athletes safe, as the immune system is badly compromised during dehydration.

Insomnia

I don’t care what anyone says about the fight itself: skinny Welterweight Nick Diaz laying down against the Middleweight GOAT is a legendary moment.

I can absolutely promise that this is one of the crappiest, most miserable fatigue drills in the long list of arduous training methods. Usually, it’s done as a final burnout after practice/private session.

The Cage Warriors crew takes a stab at replicating the viral video those stuntmen put together recently.

Olympic gold medalist/wrestling legend Dan Gable is 71 years old, held together by duck tape and prayer, and still a scarily intense individual.

People are going to rant about this one in the comments, but it made me laugh!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Emphasis on “rips!”

Jorge Masvidal has been fighting top-tier talent for so long in various organizations that he has wins over pioneers and modern day elites.

Finally, Chris Horodecki is on the positive side of one of these highlight clips!

Random Land

The discovery of a complete Spinosaurus tail largely confirmed that the massive dinosaur was an aquatic predator.

Midnight Music: I spent some time catching up on 2020 releases tonight, and Rina Sawayama’s acclaimed debut SAWAYAMA is a wild one. It’s a strange art pop album that interpolates a lot early 2000s pop elements that shouldn’t really agree with each other — think Korn and Timbaland. I don’t know if it’s actually for me, but it’s neat!

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