Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight
Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Superstar Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson has been on the edge of the MMA bubble for a long time. He is widely known for supporting Ronda Rousey in her UFC career, acting alongside her in the Fast and Furious franchise and her Wrestlemania appearance. He even said he once considered a career in MMA a la Brock Lesnar (or CM Punk). On a movie set recently, he filmed a scene where a former UFC fighter, Jason William Day, put him in a rear naked choke that got pretty real. Johnson described the experience on his Instagram account:
Night night. The glaze you see over my eyes as Im about to pass out is real. As is how deep this rear naked choke is sunk in by @UFC veteran turned actor/stuntman @jasonwilliamday
In our action thriller #SkyscraperMovie I barely survive everything that’s thrown my way. Including this fight. First take when Jason slapped this rear naked on me, I knew right away, holy shit, this brother is sinking it in. I thought fuck it, the more real the better, it’ll be great for the movie. After every take Jason would always ask if everything was ok with the choke. I said everything was great. Our director, Rawson Thurber called me and Jason over to the monitor to watch playback of the scene. Rawson and Jason were happy and felt we got it, but I said, let’s take one more crack at this. Before I walked away I whispered to Rawson, I’m gonna let him hold the choke longer, just keep shooting. After the take was done and I got my senses back and SLOWLY got up, me and Jason hugged like grateful gentlemen. He’s a real class act and bad ass. A pleasure getting my hands dirty with a real fighter. #BarelySurviving #SkyscraperMovie
That’s the famous dedication that has seen Dwayne Johnson navigate an extraordinarily successful career, from pro wrestler to polished actor.
Insomnia
This is amazing: “El Cucuy” scares Dana White (again)
“You f****** did it to me again!”
Tony Ferguson has a history of scaring Dana White… #UFC216 pic.twitter.com/xelQnmd3yE
— BT Sport UFC (@btsportufc) October 5, 2017
You might be interested in UFC 217’s main event, but this is what I can’t wait for: TJ Dillashaw vs. Cody Garbrandt.
Garbrandt reveals the gender of his expected child:
Cody Garbrandt and his wife are expecting and he revealed the gender of his future child pic.twitter.com/sDjzf5Dggx
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) October 7, 2017
I’m also extremely into this one:
Some ranked bantamweights talking trash: Thomas Almeida called out 135’s missing man, Bryan Caraway, and Caraway responded.
How bout a fight between me & @BryanCaraway? I remember you said the UFC protects me but I think you’re scared. I’d love to break your face.
— Thomas Almeida (@ThomasalmeidaCB) October 6, 2017
I would end U! I don’t think U want to go 3-4 for ur exit out of the UFC… I would hate to end UR dream. But be careful what you ask for… https://t.co/YUAyWEeuzC
— Bryan Caraway (@BryanCaraway) October 7, 2017
After Kevin Lee’s near-miss this morning, Aljamain Sterling dropped some knowledge about how much weight fighters cut, on average. Rule of thumb: think two weight classes up. That’s accurate even for higher weight classes: Welterweights often walk around at ~200 pounds, middleweights often begin their cut from 225. Forget the concussions. This is what will kill a fighter someday unless it changes; and the early weigh-ins have made everything worse.
Iaquinta was roughly 175-178 lbs this week. He fights at 155.
I’ve been waking up at 160-163 lbs for past month.
Al is 2 wgt classes heavier— Aljamain Sterling (@FunkMaster_UFC) October 6, 2017
I’m 5’7 fighting at 135 at a high level.
High level guys at 145 are getting bigger; 5’8+
If guys at 45 went to 55, I have no prob going 45 https://t.co/L20BK7mo0g— Aljamain Sterling (@FunkMaster_UFC) October 6, 2017
Kevin Lee’s response after he did eventually make weight:
Told y’all I ain’t no bitch. #scaredyadidntI
— Kevin MTP Lee (@MoTownPhenom) October 6, 2017
Poirier with the controlled burn
If he Would have put as much thought into his diet as he does his outfits …
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) October 6, 2017
Anthony Johnson would fit right in at heavyweight. I would love to see him fight someone like Alastair Overeem.
Just saw Anthony Johnson. He said he weighs 250 pounds. Looks very happy and healthy. Said he met with UFC brass this week. No deal in place for him to return. If he does he said it would be at heavyweight. No more 205. He’s out of USADA so needs 6 mths of testing if he returns. pic.twitter.com/xYu2fuF9Gv
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 6, 2017
Woodley is accurate with this comparison
@TonyFergusonXT open workouts be like https://t.co/1VpNbKzRJL
— Tyron T-Wood Woodley (@TWooodley) October 6, 2017
I know someone named Luke Schuyler Walker so this seems about right
Alright, our last name sounds like “encounter”, what should we name our son? pic.twitter.com/9yR7ibZ8gv
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) October 6, 2017
Quick Hits
- Bellator 184 results, replete with .GIFs and interviews. (If you like Midnight Mania, you’ll love this)
- Ferguson says his style is “f***ing genius, which I have to agree with. He’s brilliant in the cage lately
- UFC 216 weigh-in video results
Slips, Rips, and KO Clips
Darrion Caldwell is the real deal
The @TheWolfMMA welcomes @DuduDantasMMA to Suplex City #Bellator184 pic.twitter.com/WWJBLcKeoq
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) October 7, 2017
He literally bounced his head off his canvas. Eat your heart out, Conor McGregor
Tyson Nam KOs Rizvan Abuev in 1R. Dude is a killer (FNG) pic.twitter.com/fmXb7IYzIv
— Jolassanda (@Jolassanda) October 6, 2017
The folding chair knockout
Alexey Sidorenko KO’s Malik Merad. Like a giraffe being shot. #FNG75 pic.twitter.com/wl4qpGJcot
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) October 6, 2017
Another angle:
Who needs weight classes? #FNG75 pic.twitter.com/1qwCdo9Yyh
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) October 6, 2017
Great fight
Weili Zhang #UFCShanghai pic.twitter.com/GyIVo8nXIp
— Bestrafer7 (@Bestrafer7) October 6, 2017
Podcasts and Video
Kevin Lee vs. Tony Ferguson full fight preview By The Numbers:
Andrew Richardson explains Ray Borg’s half-guard attacks. Subscribe to MMAMania’s Youtube channel for more
Cormier apologizes to Anthony Johnson for his crybaby comments.
.@dc_mma apologizes to @Anthony_Rumble on @MMAjunkieRadio https://t.co/7RYWLBfFAE
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) October 7, 2017
Random Land
Watch a man light himself on fire. He does a pretty convincing three-second impression of the Human Torch. I wonder if he was on fire long enough to get burned.
Da ting go… pic.twitter.com/mp3zwOqWwB
— Michael Morgan (@mikewhoatv) October 6, 2017
Stay woke, Maniacs! Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @Vorpality