Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!
Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Francis Ngannou’s finances have been a major topic in the lead up to his UFC 270 title fight vs. Ciryl Gane. “The Predator” may not be happy with his UFC contract, but he’s willing to invest/gamble a portion of it in the hopes of a positive return.
Teaming up with CashApp, Ngannou revealed that he will receive half of his purse in Bitcoin, which he calls “the future of money” in the video above. The cryptocurrency is valued at about $42k per coin at the time of writing, down from $52k a month ago but way up on a longer timeline.
Ngannou enters this match up riding a five-fight win streak, all via knockout, most recently stopping Stipe Miocic to claim the undisputed crown. Since that win, Gane picked up an interim crown off his own to cap off a seven-fight UFC win streak.
Insomnia
There are some conflicting opinions on whether or not Paddy Pimblett vs. Jared Gordon is going down on March 19, but Dave Portnoy and Gordon himself seem confident.
My grandparents were born and raised in London. I’d love to fight in the motherland?? https://t.co/XTDlPFuFfb
— Jared Gordon (@JFlashGordonMMA) January 18, 2022
Gregor Gillespie gives us a preview of his would-be match up vs. Tony Ferguson.
A solid Featherweight match up has been rebooked for April.
Pat Sabatini will fight Gavin Tucker at #UFC273 on April 9th. (first rep. @MMAjunkie) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN pic.twitter.com/XJSMduY36W
— Marcel Dorff (@BigMarcel24) January 18, 2022
With Kayla Harrison likely remaining in PFL, is it time yet to close the UFC women’s Featherweight division?
All but done. https://t.co/7fsfRMbUnv pic.twitter.com/YgvtkMMufU
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 18, 2022
Yeah, based on the main event a few nights ago, Alexander Volkanovski would’ve been a nightmare match up for Giga Chikadze.
Volk on the Giga kick pic.twitter.com/qYC64uRq1p
— 231 Lb Crute (@Bendaman2001) January 18, 2022
Slava Borschev reacts to his bonus-winning UFC debut:
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Three right hands produce three knockdowns in a short period of time!
????????? @patrick_ldh
(21?/MMA2?2?/??????)?????????6?????????3??????????AbemaTV?????????DREAMERS???MMA??????MMA??2??????1????KO???????#shooto0116 #????????? pic.twitter.com/zi7JaqbY6b
— Japanese Prospect (@prospect_jpn) January 16, 2022
Finishing counter combinations with a head kick is one of the most high percentage ways to land the strike. Also, this looks to be some high-level amateur fighting!
beautiful head kick TKO . Adam Bartikhanov wins over David Samuel and gets the JFC Pride belt. JFC Pride is first promotion for juniors (18 and below) #popMMA pic.twitter.com/MgpSXRFORQ
— Matysek (@Matysek88) January 17, 2022
Presented without comment:
Phenomenal ragdoll physics pic.twitter.com/yW9D19Hs5Z
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) January 17, 2022
Random Land
A neat treehouse!
Midnight Music: In last night’s thread, I was recommended the Eddie Hazel LP Games, Dames, and Guitar Things. Hazel is perhaps best known for his legendary guitar solo on Funkadelic’s “Maggot Brain” — which has been featured previously — but his album is also pretty sweet for guitar fans!
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.