Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!
Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Cain Velasquez finds himself in an unexpected and unthinkably awful situation, and the hits keep on coming. On Monday, Velasquez was denied bail for his alleged involvement of chasing down and shooting at the man accused of molesting one of his child relatives.
Watch video of that very public chaos here.
If there’s any silver lining to be found, the martial arts community has really rallied behind the former Heavyweight champion. “Free Cain” t-shirts have sold in abundance, and the same hashtag has spread all over social media. Fellow pros, training partners, and regular fans have all supported Velasquez in this difficult time.
One such method to show financial support for lawyer fees and Velasquez’s family was GoFundMe, the popular crowdfunding platform. Unfortunately, those fundraisers have been removed due to the violent nature of Velasquez’s accused crimes. “We can confirm that both fundraisers were removed, and all donors have been refunded,” a GoFundMe spokesperson told MMA Junkie. “GoFundMe prohibits raising money for the legal defense of a violent crime.”
All those who donated have been refunded. American Kickboxing Academy Head Coach Javier Mendez organized one of the fundraisers and announced the removal on his Instagram, alongside another message of support.
Velasquez currently faces a bevy of charges, the most significant of which is attempted murder, which carries a minimum sentence of 20 years behind bars. Velasquez is next scheduled to appear in court on April 12.
Insomnia
I liked American Top Team’s statement after a difficult weekend. Happens to every team!
Betting against Magomed’s is not a winning strategy.
Magomed Ankalaev is a -500 favourite against Thiago Santos in this weekend’s UFC Fight Night main event.
Fighters with “Magomed” in their name have a 45-8 (.849 win%) record all-time in the UFC.
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) March 7, 2022
High-level kickboxing sparring:
Yair Rodriguez vs. Bryan Ortega is guaranteed “Fight of the Night” … if it happens.
Yair Rodríguez tells me that a fight vs. Brian Ortega is in the works for mid June-July “nothing signed, but we are in talks”.
Vía ?@ESPNDeportes? https://t.co/guyjwHb6fd
— Carlos Contreras Legaspi (@CCLegaspi) March 7, 2022
Does this post deserve a place in this column? Probably not, but it’s too funny!
Jorge Masvidal didn’t get the win last weekend, but this was one hell of a punch — impressive that Colby ate it!
Bruce Buffer’s bling is next level.
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Relive one of the most fun Light Heavyweight scraps in the last ten years, a bout which also witnessed the birth of panic Capoeira!
Sneaky high kicks from both men!
Headkicks are violently beautiful pic.twitter.com/DcurcZNPlN
— Cerebral Vigilante (@Delisketo) March 7, 2022
Great control against a man completely out cold but in a strange position.
Random Land
Some local rockfall and the solution to it!
Midnight Music: A Tribe Called Quest’s 2016 return LP We Got It From Here … Thank Your 4 Your Service had no right to be so good.
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.