Midnight Mania! Two Title Fights Targeted For UFC 260

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

UFC intends to hold four pay-per-view (PPV) events in the first quarter of 2021, and now they’re all beginning to take shape. To quickly sum up the planned schedule: UFC 257 features the return of Conor McGregor next weekend, UFC 258 is something of a mystery likely headlined by Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns, and UFC 259 is absolutely stacked with three title fights!

The UFC event on March 27 was initially thought to be a standard Fight Night event, but UFC will in fact squeeze in a second March PPV. Earlier tonight, ESPN’s Ariel Helwani revealed that UFC intends a pair of title fights to lead the card, as Stipe Miocic will put his Heavyweight title on the line opposite Francis Ngannou for the second time, and Alexander Volkanovski will look to deny a resurgent Brian Ortega.

He was forced to survive a few scares, but Stipe Miocic handily defeated Francis Ngannou back in January of 2018. Since then, Miocic battled Daniel Cormier across a trilogy of fights to ultimately remain champion, whereas Ngannou rebounded by knocking out four opponents in less than three minutes total.

Meanwhile, Volkanovski will finally look to expand his championship reign beyond fighting Max Holloway. Ortega may only be riding a single fight win streak into his second title shot, but the jiu-jitsu ace did appear reinvigorated and better than ever in his five-round thrashing of Chan Sung Jung.

Are these two title fights enough to score your hard-earned cash?

Insomnia

Nathaniel Wood takes a shot at Sean O’Malley …

Darren Till vs. Marvin Vettori has yet to be announced, but the bout seems certain, and it’s likely to be a good one!

Will streamers remain largely undefeated vs. UFC in 2021?

Seriously, who expected this much quality content from Rafael Fiziev?

It’s a shame Merab Dvalishvili is out, but this remains a quality Bantamweight bout.

USADA appears to be lowering the penalties for fighters who managed to prove that they were affected by a tainted supplement.

Corny video aside, I will fully admit jealousy to Colby Covington’s Bang sponsorship. Those heart-attacks-in-a-can are excellent for the weight cut process!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

This was a great mix of right hands and right uppercuts!

I greatly appreciate these quick bits of analysis from the Striking Breakdowns account, they’re always both efficient and informative.

Here’s a pretty slick, slow motion block and counter.

Random Land

A really neat bit of machinery:

Midnight Music: “It go Halle Berry or Hallelujah!”

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