Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!
Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Jake Paul’s end game with boxing has never been a secret. Since early in his professional career, he’s had his sights on Conor McGregor, one half of the biggest MMA vs. boxing crossover in history. It still seems awful unlikely, but then, would anyone have predicted Paul to defeat Anderson Silva in the ring?
He’s already booked to fight Nate Diaz, McGregor’s most famous rival. The Irish athlete expects Diaz to be victorious in their August showdown, but if Paul wins, things are starting to line up for an eventual crossover. Perhaps that’s why former boxing champion, one-off bare knuckle boxer, and ex-McGregor sparring partner Paulie Malignaggi is analyzing the potential match up!
In his analytical view — which surely has nothing to do with their multi-year bad blood — McGregor’s defense isn’t prepared to handle his opponent’s looping punches, because he lacks discpline.
“I think Jake Paul would knock Conor out”. Malignaggi told Betway (via The Daily Mail). “Conor is too susceptible to those loopy shots, and Jake hits hard enough that only needs to hit you with one or two of them. I think Conor has decent sharp shots, but I don’t think Conor has the discipline to stay with those little sharp shots for a certain amount of rounds. I think he would fall apart because he doesn’t have a lot of heart.
“Conor has no balls. If you take Conor a few rounds he already has this very big discomfort and mistakes naturally create themselves. You don’t even have to create them anymore.”
Insomnia
If PFL or One were to absorb Bellator’s roster, which would you prefer?
Rumors are swirling of a bidding war between PFL and ONE Championship to buy Bellator. Nothing is confirmed but some meat added to it especially after Dana White’s recent comments.
— Hyon Ko (@KoreanJohn_) May 22, 2023
The Light Heavyweight title picture is very odd.
Jan Blachowicz says the UFC told him if he beats Alex Pereira he gets a title shot.#TheMMAHour
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) May 22, 2023
A bit of Lomachenko slickness highlighted in slow-mo:
My favorite combo from Lomachenko vs Haney pic.twitter.com/9wv1mbqXYW
— Miguel Class (@MigClass) May 22, 2023
Mike Perry is the funniest man in combat sports.
This man being the bareknuckle GOAT is crazy pic.twitter.com/mVkQq3a3jz
— Shed Boy (@Callum_JN) May 22, 2023
Things got a little wild at Karate Combat over the weekend.
this gotta be one of the greatest crowd brawl videos of all time. pic.twitter.com/hnIXuQoxXg
— MacMally (@MacMallyMMA) May 22, 2023
Inject this scrambling into my veins!
Top 5 scramble of 2022 pic.twitter.com/sgfwj9p5Uh
— LAMO (@myopinionisseen) May 22, 2023
Can Terrance McKinney bounce back after a couple consecutive losses?
Terrance McKinney will take on Nazim Sadykhov at #UFCVegas77 on July 15th.
[per @twrecks155]#UFCVegas77 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/CfVfp5NSiz— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) May 22, 2023
The eye poke Slava Borschev suffered in his UFC Vegas 73 fight was no joke! This video is gross.
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Right hand to the body sets up the big overhand upstairs!
MY LORD. Denis Smoldarev shuts the lights out on Matunga Djikasa. Man was OUT on his feet #ACA157 pic.twitter.com/GJ4uvZc7YQ
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) May 19, 2023
A liver kick just shuts off the body.
4??KO??!!????????? @ABEMA ???? https://t.co/iwZCYIfM1Y #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/DtCbifIRsE
— (@kixaboxa) May 19, 2023
The pressure forward from the turtle position is really key here! His pressure allowed him to adjust the grip and sink in the choke further while the opponent was trapped with hit butt to his heels.
holy shit pic.twitter.com/ThZdLmbspb
— lakersfan0938409328492374759745 (@RyanAWagSystema) May 19, 2023
Random Land
Big air.
Midnight Music: We watched Breakfast Club tonight (not for the first time).
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.