Midnight Mania! Paul Slams White, UFC Sheep Over Fighter Pay Comments

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Every once in a while, it seems like UFC President Dana White and social media star/boxer Jake Paul might actually start getting along. White refuses to fully deny Paul a chance to scrap inside the Octagon, and on occasion, Paul has reached across the table and offered terms. Then, the subject of fighter pay comes up, and all bets are once again off.

In a recent interview with GQ, White doubled down on his fighter pay stance. Per White, a change in fighter pay is “never gonna happen while I’m here, believe me, these guys get paid what they’re supposed to get paid.” White’s message was clear: anyone hoping for even a raise in the bonus system should expect to just keep on hoping.

Paul isn’t a fan of that stance. Quoting the interview on Twitter, Paul replied, “No major sports organization pays its athletes as poorly as Dana White & UFC. If u don’t see that then you are one of Dana’s sheeps. They keep talking about selling out 21 events in a row but never talking about raising fighter pay, giving them healthcare & fair revenue split.”

The fight pay dispute is just one aspect of their negative relationship. In addition, White recently argued that Paul called off his fight with Hasim Rahman Jr. due to poor ticket sales. A rep directly from Madison Square Garden confirmed the opposite, revealing that the event was expected to be one of the highest grossing in the last 15 years.

Insomnia

This clip is baffling. Such perfect timing on such a stupid decision — wildly out of pocket.

It just doesn’t get much better than Rafael Fiziev vs. Justin Gaethje. BOOK IT!

Walking into the cage ready to die is the correct mindset for success, and both Dominick Cruz and Marlon Vera have that in spades.

Terrance McKinney eventually heading to Welterweight isn’t a huge shock. There’s a reason he’s so powerful early in fights — that’s a big lad!

BJ Penn’s stance is clear(ly confusing).

Kamaru Usman is not the first fighter to complain about late night/early morning USADA calls. As it turns out, sleep is hugely important for professional athletes (and regular people too!).

Why is it that anyone tries a cool kick around the guard, it inevitably ends up as a nut shot?

Slips, rips, and KO clips

You can pretty much immediately tell Calderon was no longer comfortable getting touched by his opponent before the finishing exchange.

Counter spins are the coolest.

Bo Nickal isn’t the only All-American wrestler to strangle a man in less than a minute this week.

Random Land

It’s called functional fitness sweatie, look it up.

Midnight Music: The new Black Thought and Danger Mouse collaboration album released tonight!

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