Midnight Mania! ‘Stylebender’s’ Sole Middleweight Huckleberry?

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Israel Adesanya is making a bold move in jumping to 205-pounds in an attempt to capture a second crown off the head of Jan Blachowicz this weekend (March 6, 2021) at UFC 259 in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, in regards to his standing as Middleweight champion, there is no risk to “Stylebender’s” own belt. His ego might take a blow, but win or lose, Adesanya remains the 185-pound champion and will have to deal with its challengers.

As of yet, Adesanya has been a pretty ideal Middleweight champion, ready to fight the top-ranked contenders with no signs of drama or delay. However, when asked about an eventual return to Middleweight and defense of his current throne, Adesanya revealed to ESPN that only one fighter who motivated him was … Darren Till?

“To be honest… None of them except Till.” Adesanya said (transcription via SportsKeeda.com). “And I just keep saying, I hope he keeps winning so we can have that fight because you know the vibes. I just like that style… If he wants to be that Muay Thai master and he thinks he can stand up with me, be my guest. Ya I like Till, I like the style and I’ll like to fight him but he just gotta win man. He just gotta get his sh*t together and keep winning, Till. Come on, scouser.”

Somewhere, Robert Whittaker just put his fist through a wall.

More immediately, top contenders Kevin Holland and Marvin Vettori responded on Instagram in the comments of the ESPN post. Holland wrote, “For the record me and him are fighting at 205 that’s why #tittiechamp,” whereas Vettori — who has vocally argued that he won his first battle with “Stylebender” for years now — replied with laughing emojis.

If Adesanya does take out Blachowicz, it may be some time before we see him back at 185 lbs.

Insomnia

Paulo Costa and his wine binge is one of the saddest, funniest, most MMA things in recent memory. On one hand, I do believe him. On the other hand, if you do something that drastically reduces your chances of winning … that’s your fault. No one sleeps well before fights!

It is nice to see Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisping on good terms. Being 1-1 probably helps!

Time to update the complete COVID-19 list (and maybe get a backup fighter on hand).

This is a very Merab Dvalishvili thing to do. Sometimes, fighting styles are indeed representative of personalities.

Andrei Arlovski foot update:

These memes offer conflicting thoughts on who wins between Blachowicz and Adesanya. All my fight predications are meme-based, so this is tricky …

Andy Ruiz Jr seems to have leaned out ahead of his next bout.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Is Islam Makhachev the future of the Lightweight division?

Kai Kara-France vs. Rogerio Bontorin is going to be a boatload of fun.

Random Land

This weirdo fish has nose-eyes.

Midnight Music: It’s still RIP to the legend MF DOOM.

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