Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!
Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Top-ranked Bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili has jokes.
He’s scheduled to fight former two-weight champion Henry Cejudo this weekend (Sat. Feb. 17, 2024) inside Honda Center in Anaheim, California. There was a very odd incident earlier this week in which Cejudo appeared to publicly fire his longtime coach, Eric Albarracin, while being recorded by UFC “Countdown” cameras.
It’s hard to make heads or tails of the situation. Why would this information about Cejudo firing his coach release after an entire training camp of them theoretically being separated? Is this just another cringe tactic for attention from “Triple C” or a genuine attempt to reignite his career?
Whatever the case, Dvalishvili is trying to turn Cejudo’s loss into his gain! In the video above that Dvalishvili posted on Tuesday, “The Machine” tracks down Albarracin and recruits him by force to his camp and corner. Albarracin tries to decline, but Dvalishvili proclaims “We have a new coach!” and “I love my coach!” anyway.
There is, of course, no chance that Albarracin will actually be in Dvalishvili’s corner on Saturday night. It will be interesting to see whether or not he’s actually standing behind Cejudo, however.
Insomnia
Given that Sean Strickland is not 40 and actually fights at Middleweight, I would be interested in watching this match up. Therefore, it will not happen.
Jake Paul has Sean Strickland on his MMA fighter hit list pic.twitter.com/3OIsZZOD6y
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) February 11, 2024
No young athletes dream of fighting in an empty warehouse.
What does Jack Hermansson want from the rest of his career after his #UFCVegas86 win? To get out of the UFC Apex, mainly.
“When I was dreaming about becoming a UFC fighter, I dreamt about big arenas.” pic.twitter.com/j86TDCN1Hw
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) February 11, 2024
I know Dr. Phil is a not a licensed doctor and all, but I would watch him psychoanalyze Nate Diaz.
Nate Diaz Dr. Phil pic.twitter.com/SNihCquK2b
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) February 11, 2024
UFC Vegas 86 was NOT GOOD, but it did provide us with at least two baffling and hilarious moments.
lmao pic.twitter.com/HLO0l6ljoG
— Josie Aldo (@MMAWretch) February 11, 2024
I’ve watched this about a hundred times and I now believe that Darrius Flowers was taken down by a second gunman outside of the cage pic.twitter.com/jJUhQcgLhQ
— Jack Slack (@JackSlackMMA) February 11, 2024
Back around 2006, one-in-three UFC fighters looked exactly like this.
A bit of a homecoming celebration for Themba Gorimbo!
Themba Gorimbo is enjoying being back home in Zimbabwe pic.twitter.com/WfkBqxkSRV
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) February 11, 2024
Gordon Ryan trolls relentlessly, so him getting mocked here has to be fair game, right?
Craig Jones speaks on Gordon Ryan’s truck getting stolen & some things seeming too good to be true #TheMMAHour @arielhelwani pic.twitter.com/tcwQlvAvXV
— FightCrack (@FightCrack) February 12, 2024
Slips, rips, and KO clips
I have no idea how Goncalves escaped the rear naked choke grip guillotine the first time, but he couldn’t pull off two miracles.
Vladimir Vasilyev needed a finish with 1 minute left and strangles Anderson Goncalves unconscious. What a damn fight #ACA170 pic.twitter.com/zOMOqVTKBN
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) February 9, 2024
This man hit the floor like he was shot.
BUZZER BEATER KO Wanpadej closes the show with ONE SECOND left in the fight!#ONEFridayFights51 pic.twitter.com/wkjWjIOvC9
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) February 9, 2024
Slipenko landed a stiff counter jab and didn’t expect Diphcikov to keep firing …
DAMN. Nikola Dipchikov SLEEPS the former WW champ Vitaly Slipenko with a nasty left hook and GNP in R1. Huge win for the Bulgarian. #ACA170 pic.twitter.com/cIjwfGxtFF
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) February 9, 2024
Random Land
An impressive tandoor oven.
Midnight Music: I listened to the new Kanye album, and it’s okay. The highlight for me is the Freddie Gibbs feature!
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.