Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!
Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Khamzat Chimaev has a ton of hype behind him. The Swedish immigrant by way of Chechnya debuted in July, won two dominant fights in 10 days, then picked up the best win of his career a couple months later. His rocket ride to the top of the Welterweight and Middleweight division was briefly interrupted by COVID-19, which delayed his big step up in competition vs. Leon Edwards from December 19 to January 20, 2021.
At the moment, the primary knock against Chimaev is that he’s yet to face top-flight competition. Fortunately, all other signs point to his talent, and that’s starting to include gym stories. Longtime UFC Middleweight Darren Stewart vouched for Chimaev in a conversation with AbzTalks, detailing an experience in how Chimaev damaged “The Dentist’s” tooth!
“I know people sit there and say he hasn’t fought certain people,” Stewart said (transcription via MMA Junkie). “He hasn’t yet. But look here, bro, the guy took a filling out of my tooth, just by cranking my neck.
“He’s so strong, bruv. You could sit there and say, ‘It’s not about strength,’ and this. Brother, he’s so technical and so strong. “I was grappling with him, and my ear ripped. Then, he had to come put tape around my head. It was mad.”
Ahead of Chimaev’s bout with Edwards, Stewart didn’t offer a prediction, but he merely expects a great fight.
“I’m not saying Leon can’t beat him,” Stewart said. “We haven’t seen him fight people like that … I’ve seen what he does. He’s not a guy to mess with. But in this game, yeah, MMA is MMA, and anything can happen. So I’ve heard from Fabian that Leon is a bad man, and I’ve seen that Khamzat is a bad man, so it’s going to be a good matchup.”
Insomnia
Neil Magny makes his case for “Comeback Fighter Of The Year.”
If Ali can have conversations with himself on social media, why can’t I lol pic.twitter.com/BWzaK7u8Kr
— Neil Magny (@NeilMagny) December 28, 2020
Chase Hooper reveals his fighting origins:
Pretty much, except it was in the MW2 lobbies https://t.co/cMn0UdVNfm
— Chase Hooper (@chase_hooper) December 28, 2020
Knight fights are the best:
Tony Ferguson’s time as an elite contender may be up, but his title as unintentional meme king remains undisputed.
“The Prestige” # NoSpecial Effects # WeNeverKnowWhatHesSaying ??? # DoesAnyone? # Probably,..NotReally Hash# tag You’re It ?? Keep It Jolly Foo’s ?? -CSO- # Mcnugget Monday pic.twitter.com/JtTHydqOBR
— Tony Ferguson (@TonyFergusonXT) December 28, 2020
Speaking of memes, this man deserves way more than 450 followers.
Thank you for 450 Followers. As Promised I have created the Worst Ultimate Fighter! pic.twitter.com/jGXpqt6jkL
— Sam 183-92 (@sam_pixels) December 27, 2020
Tito Ortiz is absolutely the gift that keeps on giving. Praise be to the people of Huntington Beach for giving him so many public speaking opportunities.
— Borrachinha Depot (@FullContactMTWF) December 28, 2020
The Tito Ortiz Coronavirus Conspiracy Chronicles (thread) pic.twitter.com/sEGynkaI2A
— Borrachinha Depot (@FullContactMTWF) October 27, 2020
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Even non-spinning backhanded strikes seem to generate a lot more force than one would expect.
More non-spinning backhands off kicks please pic.twitter.com/0PRvbRCffK
— Jack Slack (@JackSlackMMA) December 28, 2020
An extra brutal spinning back kick:
This highlight clip contains some seriously nasty stoppages!
Short HL of Kohi bodying dudes from many moons ago. @ShunsukeVisuals @BabaSmirs @Ignashov_Fan @ApparatusFlatus pic.twitter.com/AGwMO7iIfv
— nojillnolife (@nojillnolife) December 26, 2020
Random Land
Even though he dropped the bottle flip, this is amazing!
Midnight Music: I liked this 1967 soul track from Magic Sam, though I’ll admit I did have to Google to see if Magic Sam was an early nickname for Sam Cooke (it is not).
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.