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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Retired UFC Lightweight Gray Maynard has an issue with a recent viral interview clip with his former boss, UFC CEO Dana White.

White recently sat down with Bill Maher on the Club Random Podcast, and the topic of men’s mental health came up. White took a hard stance against the current shift in men’s mental health awareness. Deeming himself “old school,” White claimed he doesn’t have time for feelings and advised other to “be a man.”

Maynard didn’t appreciate the sentiment. The two-time Lightweight title challenger went on a bit of a rant in response, arguing that White’s penchant for fury counts as a feeling. According to “The Bully,” people are mistaking White’s business acumen for emotional intelligence. He also labeled White’s tirade as “used car salesman bulls—t.”

Additionally, the conversation moved a bit towards White’s success as UFC head. Per Maynard, the bulk of the success in turning UFC into a household name belongs to the Fertita brothers, who paid for the promotion and then made off like bandits when they sold the company to WME-IMG in 2016.

Somehow, I don’t think Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard 2 is going to end up as a Hall of Fame bout.

Maynard retired from MMA in 2018 after over a decade as a UFC fighter. He’s best known for his trilogy of fights vs. “The Answer,” but Maynard also picked up victories over the likes of Nate Diaz, Kenny Florian, and Jim Miller in his UFC career. His final bout came in October 2018, a technical knockout loss to Nik Lentz.

Insomnia

The return of “Korean Super Boy!” I see no way that Doo Ho Choi vs. Bill Algeo isn’t an entertaining Featherweight clash.

A look into how Arman Tsarukyan is able to throw axe kicks and slides out of single legs:

“You should study Pokemon to get stronger,” Kazushi Sakuraba

It’s so fun to watch Kade Ruotolo grapple.

The best fighters are those who can bring their training room tactics into the fight.

Matt Brown is staying active in his retirement.

A feud is brewing between Ryan Garcia and George Kambosos …

Bryce Mitchell has words for … Ben Shapiro?

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Double left hook with a reload between:

The way Bembe charged into that combination reminded me of Tyron Woodley vs. Jay Hieron.

Random Land

“Almost gets attacked” and “forest cows” are both wrong, but this clip of a man whipping out the mace against COWS made me chuckle.

Midnight Music: Rock, 1975

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

“Within a week, I’ll never forget, everything just deteriorated.” – Ramiz Brahimaj

Ramiz Brahimaj finally returns at UFC Vegas 92 this weekend (Sat., May 18, 2024) against The Rock’s favorite fighter, Themba Gorimbo. However, it came with dark days.

Brahimaj, 31, has been out of action for 26 months, suffering from a Brachial Plexus injury and an injury to his cervical spine.

“I had a brachial plexus injury and an injury to my C-5 from spinal stenosis and disc injuries; it set me back a lot, man,” Brahimaj told MMAmania.com. “I dealt with a lot of different things, and it’s pretty messy when that stuff happens. So, for about two to three months, I really had limited function and ability in my arm, and it kept happening. So, it sucked, but I’m here, I’m happy.”

According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, the brachial plexus is a bundle of nerves that stems from nerve roots in the cervical (neck) and upper trunk (torso) sections of the spinal cord (C5-T1), creating a network that connects to the nerves in the arm.

The Welterweight suffered his spinal injury from wrestling, the sport that causes mixed martial arts (MMA) careers to be cut short (just ask Cain Velasquez or Tatiana Suarez).

“Man, I was wrestling … and it just happened,” Brahimaj said. “I went through, I think four different doctors. Three of them actually wanted surgery — they wanted to do a fusion and use an artificial disc. I heard a lot of different things.

“And there was nothing that I wanted to hear,” Brahimaj continued. “I remember I told them, I was like, ‘Listen, I’m 30 years old. I’m not going to do this — there’s no way I’m going to put myself through surgery and set myself back so much. I’m going to find a way to recover and do it without surgery.’

“So, I started to really deep dive into the world of the spine, C-5 and all about the neck and everything,” he added. “The doctor that I actually met up with here in Dallas, an amazing doctor, assured me that his last plan was going to be for me to go under the knife. He said, ‘We’re gonna do a lot of rigorous physical therapy; it’s going take you awhile, but I just need you to trust me.’

“He was helping me as I was doing my own research on this stuff on the brachial plexus and everything,” Brahimaj added. “It took awhile, but I think it was the right choice that I made. And the function of my arm and the function of my body … everything is back. To me, it’s miraculous, you know, it’s extremely miraculous.”

Having such a horrible injury forced Brahimaj to start thinking about his future, and he was close to retiring from the sport that gave him so much.

“I had a whole letter written,” Brahimaj revealed. “I looked at that letter two weeks ago in disgust because looking back now, you know, it was gloomy. It was dark last year like — I did not know what was going to happen.

“I would make progress, and then there would be days where I’d wake up, and I’m like, ‘F—k, I don’t feel better,” he added. “I just felt like I was constantly just trying to find something to be buoyant. Because during that time, I did feel like I was drowning, but I really think it had happened. It made me so much mentally stronger. That it just opened my eyes to a lot of things.”

While Brahimaj struggled all last year to get back to competing and earning a living, the injury had one positive effect: it made him love fighting even more.

“I need you to understand that through physical therapy, through spinal injections, trigger point injections, it was a slow process, man,” he said. “It tried my patience a lot. It just gave me a newfound love and respect for my job. And, you know, I think I took fighting for granted, man, and it humbled me and woke me up.

“It just made me really appreciative of the things that I have, and most important — outside of fighting — the body and the physical attributes that I’ve been fortunate to have been blessed with,” he continued. “I was not able to pull a five-pound band for like two months. I went from getting ready to fight Carlston Harris, and I was very strong that camp physically. I think I was the strongest I had ever been proud of at that point.

“And within a week, I’ll never forget, everything just deteriorated,” Brahimaj concluded. “I was legitimately brought to my knees. It was one of the most sobering moments. But, I think just being around the team — coach Sayif Saud, being around fights and fighters — is what saved me, in essence. As cliche as it sounds, it saved my life.”

Brahimaj is coming off a first round submission win of Michael Gilmore (watch highlights) and is about to start the first fight of his new four-fight contract.

Life is good again.

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 92 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN+) at 10 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 92: “Barboza vs. Murphy” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s boxing debut is going to have to wait.

MMA Mania has confirmed with sources that the scheduled boxing match on June 8, 2024, at Rumble of Titans: Duel In the Desert in Qatar between Jackson and former Heavyweight champion, Shannon Briggs, is now off. The bout’s cancelation comes as a result of fraud concerns from the fighters regarding the event’s promoter, Quantum Sports & Media (QSM) World. It’s unknown whether or not the promoters will still try and hold an event on the discussed date.

QSM’s Founders, Hossama Dawood Khan and Suleyman Dawood Khan, along with other family members, were alleged of defrauding concerts of artists, Drake and Travis Scott, per a lawsuit by Jazba Entertainment (h/t Global Village Space) in July 2023. The allegations stated that Jazba Entertainment was persuaded by the family to invest in a Dubai concert featuring the above acts on May 28, 2021. The event was pitched with the name “Rhythm” at Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena. Jazba’s Pervaiz Akhtar with the aid of Kenyan promoter, Rani Jamal, transferred $250,000 to QSM World’s Qatar account for the event. QSM World ignored Akhtar and failed to deliver the promised concert materials once the transfer was made. The Khans were also alleged to have advertised a boxing event in 2022 that never happened after acquiring support from investors.

“Hossama Dawood Khan alleged that the $3 million investment made by Akhtar was forfeited by Drake and Travis Scott’s management when the concert was canceled,” Global Village Space’s report read. “However, representatives of the artists denied these claims, expressing surprise and disappointment that their names were misused in fraudulent activities.”

MMA Mania has since received a brief letter of legal action sent to QSM World in July 2023 along with proof of text messages that were unresponded to by Hossama Khan, countering his claim below that no legal action is being taken. It’s believed that all has just been ignored. A report was made to the Qatar embassy in London, England but a response has yet to be received by Jazba Entertainment as of March 2024. Jazba Entertainment plans to take action with Qatar’s capital, Doha.

“Both news articles are with the intention of defamation,” Khan said in a statement to MMA Mania this past March. “Also, if we have done something wrong, why have they not gone down a legal avenue as they have said in the article? To date, no legal action has been taken against us because legally they have done a breach of contract. Anyhow, we have moved on with our legal options to take down the news articles and our team is already working on it. As said before they’re just trying to defame our name.

“When you read both news articles they don’t match up,” he concluded. “One article says one thing and the other says another thing.”

QSM World requested The News International take down or at the very least edit out the QSM name from its story on the Khans on Feb. 22, 2024. Legal action was specified as not threatened but details for the request were not specified. Sources close to the situation alleged that QSM World is not registered in Qatar and currently uses a headquarters location in Doha Tower that does not exist.

As the boxing event got closer, a pre-fight press conference in Qatar was scheduled for March 28, 2024. The press conference didn’t happen and Khan’s reasoning for why was as follows.

“Regarding the press conference, it’s rescheduled as in Ramadan we can’t have musical performance in Ramadan,” Khan told MMA Mania.

Aside from the well-documented eating and drinking limitations of Ramadan, which ended on March 29, there don’t appear to be any rules in Qatar regarding musical events or performances. Nonetheless, the press conference was not rescheduled.

Jose Aldo has plenty of fight left in him.

The 37-year-old legend didn’t miss a beat in his return to action at UFC 301 two weekends ago (May 4, 2024). Tasked with Bantamweight contender, Jonathan Martinez, Aldo kept turning back the clock as he picked apart his foe en route to a clear unanimous decision win. Despite retiring from mixed martial arts (MMA) in 2022, Aldo had to fight out his UFC contract with this last appearance.

The former two-time UFC Featherweight champion is now in the midst of free agency negotiations. Aldo says he has “several offers on the table,” but is just now starting to speak with UFC and see what they’re willing to give.

“It all depends now what they will present me and what the plan for the future is,” Aldo said on The MMA Hour. “I don’t think money is the matter now, we’re not thinking about that. We’re thinking about what I can do and where can I go. That’s what we have to see now. My dream was to become champion and I’ve trained for that, my body is prepared for that. Everyone saw what I did in my return, I did a bit of everything. I was a complete MMA fighter. I’m feeling great to do even more. Who knows, to be the champion in the future.”

Aldo has had three boxing matches between his previous two MMA fights. Two were professional with the other as an exhibition. The Brazilian legend won two via unanimous decision and went to a majority draw against Jeremy Stephens in his initial pro match.

A boxing match against Neeraj Goyat was admittedly agreed to by Aldo before his Martinez fight came together. The match would have taken place at the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson event in Arlington, Texas on July 20, 2024.

Jose Aldo has plenty of fight left in him.

The 37-year-old legend didn’t miss a beat in his return to action at UFC 301 two weekends ago (May 4, 2024). Tasked with Bantamweight contender, Jonathan Martinez, Aldo kept turning back the clock as he picked apart his foe en route to a clear unanimous decision win. Despite retiring from mixed martial arts (MMA) in 2022, Aldo had to fight out his UFC contract with this last appearance.

The former two-time UFC Featherweight champion is now in the midst of free agency negotiations. Aldo says he has “several offers on the table,” but is just now starting to speak with UFC and see what they’re willing to give.

“It all depends now what they will present me and what the plan for the future is,” Aldo said on The MMA Hour. “I don’t think money is the matter now, we’re not thinking about that. We’re thinking about what I can do and where can I go. That’s what we have to see now. My dream was to become champion and I’ve trained for that, my body is prepared for that. Everyone saw what I did in my return, I did a bit of everything. I was a complete MMA fighter. I’m feeling great to do even more. Who knows, to be the champion in the future.”

Aldo has had three boxing matches between his previous two MMA fights. Two were professional with the other as an exhibition. The Brazilian legend won two via unanimous decision and went to a majority draw against Jeremy Stephens in his initial pro match.

A boxing match against Neeraj Goyat was admittedly agreed to by Aldo before his Martinez fight came together. The match would have taken place at the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson event in Arlington, Texas on July 20, 2024.