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Welcome to Midnight Mania!
UFC Middleweight Chris Curtis is keeping things loose in Canada.
“The Action Man” is less than 24 hours away from stepping into the Octagon opposite Nassourdine Imavov in the headlining fight of the “Prelims” card at UFC 289 tomorrow night (Sat. June 10, 2023) inside Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. Despite the forthcoming fisticuffs, Curtis still had time to handle a Twitter troll and post about the altercation on social media.
Despite his somewhat fiery reputation, Curtis handles the interaction with humor and grace. After switching his phone to record the video, Curtis gets in frame with a young Canadian fan whom he accuses of previously talking trash online. H
“Alright check it out, this is one of those weird times in life when you meet your Twitter trolls,” Curtis gleefully exclaimed (via Josh Evanoff). “What’s your handle? What’s your handle, we’re going to make you famous… So, I’m not even sure what he said, and I told him to stop saying dumb s—t, and I won’t block you. What do you have to say for yourself Twitter troll?”
He continued, “…We are who we are. I’m a troll, I don’t take it personally, it’s fine. It’s very rare that you get to meet people that troll you so, it’s fine.”
Last time out, Curtis suffered a controversial loss to Kelvin Gastelum. The fight was extremely back-and-forth, but a clash of heads in the second sent Curtis to the canvas. The foul was never called and may have affected the judges’ decision-making, so Curtis is currently appealing that outcome.
Either way, he’ll be searching for a definitive victory tomorrow.
Insomnia
Bea Malecki’s release and explanation seems to imply that women’s Featherweight will last as long as Amanda Nunes’ UFC career continues, and no further. Bellator bound?
Bea Malecki says she wants to continue her career at featherweight but the UFC wasn’t interested which caused them both to go their separate ways https://t.co/71aiRATd4p pic.twitter.com/AqficH3lT4
— Alex Behunin (@AlexBehunin) June 9, 2023
A new Heavyweight prospect joins the ranks:
| Valter Walker (11-0), brother of Johnny Walker, has been signed by the UFC, per his manager Gor Azizyan.#UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/VqGCGaoJeO
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) June 9, 2023
Lupita Goodinez is locking down that Angela Hill role of jumping on short-notice fights.
Loopy Godínez will fight Sam Hughes at UFC event on September 16th. (per @CCLegaspi) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2023 pic.twitter.com/NW1jOyDU1j
— Marcel Dorff (@BigMarcel24) June 9, 2023
Every shot that comes from Dariush’s left side — overhand, cross, kick high, kick low, knee — is very powerful.
Dariush baits Gamrot into catching the body kick but gives him a knee instead. pic.twitter.com/Nh8KfYfA3s
— Miguel Class (@MigClass) June 9, 2023
Slips, rips, and KO clips
The Southpaw corkscrew uppercut — aka the lead hand uppercut — is a nasty shot when thrown well.
Jaosuayai shocks Petsukumvit with a MASSIVE first-round KO in our main event! #ONEFridayFights20#WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/0pMXR6WYve
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) June 9, 2023
Great commitment to the body followed by the picture-perfect left hook finisher:
Goga Shamatava punishes the body of Vadim Panevin finishing with a left hook and GNP in the ACA YE 36 main event #ACAYE36 pic.twitter.com/DD6SpBpZvn
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) June 9, 2023
Absolutely beautiful high kick from the back foot:
Jaising head kick KOs Jinhu Zhang in 30 seconds at ONE Lumpinee 20 pic.twitter.com/OR9Qdb2tET
— Will (@ChillemDafoe) June 9, 2023
Random Land
The Immaculate Croception.
An American crocodile in Costa Rica laid a clutch of eggs. That was peculiar: She’d been living alone for 16 years. One of them matured in an incubator, yielding a perfectly formed but stillborn baby crocodile.https://t.co/OTxIM968Ru
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 7, 2023
Midnight Music: Indie/soul, 1994
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.