Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!
Welcome to Midnight Mania!
There’s no love lost between UFC CEO Dana White and Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinoza. The two worked together back in 2017 to promote the Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather boxing super fight, which sold an absurd amount of pay-per-view (PPV) buys and made everyone involved wild amounts of money. Despite the success of the event, the two have disputed numbers and taken shots at one another ever since.
White’s general distaste for the boxing scene probably doesn’t help the situation much. Consequently, White didn’t seem too upset when he was asked about the rumors that Showtime was leaving the boxing game entirely.
“That’s incredibly unfortunate. Production of that show was fantastic. The guy who runs showtime boxing is a great human being. It’s unfortunate to hear this,” White began with a barely concealed grin on his face.
“F—k Espinoza. It’s about time that shitty product was off the air.”
Not exactly a gracious victory dance, but then, Espinoza hasn’t been afraid to throw the occasional low blow in White’s direction either. Furthermore, White did still express interest in entering the boxing game and possibly taking advantage of the opening, so perhaps Zuffa Boxing is finally ready to take center stage?
Insomnia
If you were excited to watch PFL Paris this weekend, no you weren’t!
Unfortunate #PFLParis update: There will NOT be a stream available for U.S. audience.@PFLMMA officials tell me there was a miscommunication regarding the availability of pre-fight activities and the actual fight card but have confirmed there is no stream of event.
— John Morgan (@JohnMorgan_MMA) September 26, 2023
Korean Zombie deserves all the love.
The Korean Zombie was gifted this special title with WEC & UFC side plates
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) September 26, 2023
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria could be happening in just a few short months.
January sounds good to me! pic.twitter.com/AyukrwvPOa
— Alex Volkanovski (@alexvolkanovski) September 26, 2023
Rafael Fiziev seems to be in good spirits after an
Can Andrei Arlovski turn away another unranked Heavyweight prospect? He gets it done more often than not.
Andrei Arlovski will fight Waldo Cortes-Acosta at #UFCVegas83 on January 13th. (first rep. @gastonreyno) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2024 pic.twitter.com/9xhsvVeUhy
— Marcel Dorff (@BigMarcel24) September 24, 2023
The most shocking of these was definitely Kevin Holland landing an inside trip in the fifth round!
Jones, Brunson and Usman all had their 100% TDD stat taken by 3 strikers (Gus, Holland, Leon) pic.twitter.com/BbT4glbLRG
— schwick (@schwick6) September 25, 2023
Khamzat Chimaev vs. Sean Strickland could be an interesting fight, former Welterweights colliding for the 185-pound belt.
Chimaev has a message for the new middleweight champ
( @KChimaev) pic.twitter.com/Mji9VzOrIy
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 25, 2023
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Yup, that’s a contract-winning KO if I’ve ever seen one.
Lok Dog Oliveira. Brutal left hook KO. Sign him #DWCS pic.twitter.com/ZuRsYizVLv
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) September 27, 2023
Taking the cross downstairs then bringing the hook high afterwards is as classic as it gets.
https://t.co/bftjghGV55 pic.twitter.com/iKHmldZypR
— Shy Jazz (@jazz_shy) September 23, 2023
Elite kickboxers taking lumps out of each other:
Former ONE Kickboxing champion Capitan faces Nuenglanlek, for the third time this Saturday, at the 2023 RWS Super Lightweight Finals.
Their previous encounter earlier this year was a bangerpic.twitter.com/bP1XrFsRpp
— Cerebral Vigilante (@Delisketo) September 25, 2023
Random Land
Komodo dragons are gnarly creatures.
The Komodo dragon is the largest extant species of lizard & can eat up to 80% of its body weight in one meal
While it mostly eats carrion, the view of a goat that gets swallowed in one bite is truly impressive
[ Ngasu Media]pic.twitter.com/ExQfjIjNV3
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 25, 2023
Midnight Music: Indie, 2021
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.