Midnight Mania! Mac’s Millions Save SBG Port From Covid Closure

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

All around the world, COVID-19 is putting pressure on more than health care. As government shutdowns and general fear keeps businesses closed or slowed, entire industries are struggling. Notably, indoor fitness facilities are widely closed, and it’s obviously impossible to practice social distancing in a mixed martial arts training session.

An unknowable number of gyms have closed down in recent months, and SBG Portarlington — an affiliate gym of the main SBG Ireland in Dublin — appeared next. A couple days ago, the gym posted on Instagram that they were forced to close due to the pandemic.

“Tonight, we close our doors in the gym for the last time,” Bellator veteran and owner Philip Mulpeter wrote. “Unfortunately, we are forced to shut our gym down. To say I’m heartbroken is an understatement. The covid pandemic has been tough on us all and we can no longer keep the gym going. Due to mounting rent bills during lockdowns we just can’t sustain.”

Though there was mention of eventually rebuilding, it was not a hopeful epilogue for the gym. Fortunes have shifted dramatically since then, however, as none other than SBG Ireland’s Conor McGregor stepped in to save the gym!

McGregor is no stranger to charitable pursuits. His upcoming bout with Dustin Poirier, in fact, will include a $500k donation to Poirier’s The Good Fight foundation. Additionally, McGregor has publicly donated to first responders and children in need.

Insomnia

First, Darren Till and Marvin Vettori agree to fight. Second, the memes begin!

Charles Oliveira is all class after the biggest victory of his professional career.

Bruce Buffer just crushed a relationship for a modest fee — I was wrong, Cameo is clearly brilliant.

Shoutout to Jason Herzog for actually taking a point for a foul at an appropriate time.

Despite the seemingly endless series of events over the last six months, not everyone got a fight in 2020. Here’s a list of some notables:

Fortunately, the wait for Gregor Gillespie may not be too long!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Bulldog chokes/no hook rear naked chokes are always difficult to pull off, but if it’s under the neck …

The best time to attack a triangle is immediately after/during the takedown. In this case, Dzhaparov is already scooting to his hip and isolating one arm as he falls to the mat.

Jason High pulled off a fifth round rally over the weekend:

Random Land

A battle of rams:

Midnight Music: My favorite track of the night off my personal Discover Weekly playlist:

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