Midnight Mania! No Sparring, Only Zoom

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Rematches are tricky business in MMA, particularly when discussing a rematch to a fight that went the full 25 minutes. Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway spent a lot of time trying to figure one another out, testing tricks and gauging reactions. Heading into their second go-around, the question becomes how well Volkanovski can repeat what worked last time vs. how Holloway can change the course of the fight.

It’s a complex situation, one further complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has closed gyms all over the world.

Speaking on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Holloway discussed what his fight camp was like during strict stay-at-home orders, “It was challenging. It was difficult. We’ll find out who the true fighters, true warriors, true people who really love this get to do it.

“I didn’t want to put none of my coaches in harm’s way or getting arrested. Stay-at-home order in Hawaii was pretty serious … a lot of the way I was training was exactly like this, over Zoom! There were Zoom classes, and you know, the first time seeing my coaches was at the airport in Vegas and then coming here.”

Despite the lack of one-on-one time with training partners and coaches, Holloway is optimistic about his preparation. “It’s just about how you adapt,” Holloway explained. “I’m ready, we’re good. One thing I took away from this pandemic was actually noticing that sometimes in camp, we do over push our bodies in camp. We do go over the line sometimes.”

Holloway also confirmed that he did not work with any training partners nor spar throughout the entire camp.

It’s an extremely abnormal situation, and though Holloway’s take on it is positive, it will be hard to assume that the complete lack of training partners will not be something of a handicap. Fortunately, the playing field is leveled somewhat by the fact that New Zealand — location of Volkanovski’s primary gym, City Kickboxing — also underwent lock down until fairly recently.

Will Holloway perform well while rested and healthy or will the rust show and affect his timing? We’ll all have to wait until next Saturday (July 11, 2020) for UFC 251 to find out.

Insomnia

The unfortunate death of Abubakar Nurmagomedov will have far-reaching consequences in the Russian/Dagestani MMA scene. Before any of that can be considered, however, there will be some immediate fight cancellations.

Many, many fighters shared their respects for the Nurmagomedov patriarch online, but I quite liked Daniel Cormier’s clip.

“The Assassin Baby” Brandon Moreno made his pro debut at 17 years old!

Chipotle and UFC sharing a tagline is not a future I would have imagined.

Presented without comment.

Michael Chandler breaks down the jab-low kick combination a bit:

Slips, rips, and KO clips

The slow-motion highlights from both Fury vs. Wilder matches are a ton of fun to watch.

This is one of the absolute cleanest spinning elbow knockouts I’ve ever seen. Wow.

This video alone should really be enough to fill my weekly knockouts quota. Please enjoy!

Random Land

The greatest panorama photo in human history:

Midnight Music: “Music, at its essence, is what gives us memories. And the longer a song has existed in our lives, the more memories we have of it.” – Stevie Wonder

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