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Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Teofimo Lopez vs. Jamaine Ortiz just wrapped up moments ago (Thurs. Feb. 8, 2024) from inside Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lopez sought the first defense of his WBO Super Welterweight title, and technically, he achieved that goal with a unanimous decision victory after 12 rounds of combat.
Maybe with a little help from the judges …
First things first, Lopez vs. Ortiz was not a good fight. If you watch the first three rounds, you’ve effectively seen the entire 36 minutes of “action.” The general flow of the match went like this: Ortiz, fighting from the Southpaw stance, flashed jabs that didn’t land and circled to his right. Lopez chased him all over but never really tried to cut off the cage.
The most significant strike in 12 rounds of boxing was an accidental clash of heads. Otherwise, Ortiz landed the occasional check hook with some pop, while Lopez connected on a few counter uppercuts that may have done some damage. Nobody was ever hurt or particularly bothered, and both men finished the contest with fairly clean faces and an awful landing percentage.
Still, it felt like Ortiz was the more effective man overall by a small margin. MMAmania’s own Patrick Stumberg scored the fight 118-110 Ortiz, and the majority of scorecards I saw online were also in favor of “The Technician.” The bout was too close and too uninteresting for anyone to get overly upset, but it’s still somewhat shocking that the final scorecards were so in favor of Lopez (117-111, 115-113 x2).
Check out the (meager) highlights below:
This is the Greatest Showman pic.twitter.com/CfkF2HiT68
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) February 9, 2024
Ortiz isn’t backing away from Teo’s challenge pic.twitter.com/h2WCUSUfiD
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) February 9, 2024
KEYSHAWN CONFRONTS TEO RINGSIDE ?? pic.twitter.com/zDYMtt9V7C
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) February 9, 2024
For a man who rebranded himself “The Showman,” this wasn’t exactly a star-making night for Teofimo Lopez. He may have scraped by with the victory, but he probably didn’t earn many new fans with this performance.
Insomnia
Cris Cyborg doesn’t expect to compete in the cage in the first half of 2024 … at a minimum.
With no opportunities to return to @PFLMMA or @BellatorMMA during the first half of 2024 I will be announcing my return to the sport of Boxing with a fight announcement next week.
— CrisCyborg.Com (@criscyborg) February 8, 2024
Gilbert Burns isn’t buying the Colby Covington x-ray schtick.
Gilbert Burns questions the validity of Colby Covington’s X-ray:
“I saw him walking everywhere. I don’t see his name on the x-ray.
We saw this guy walking everywhere in Miami, playing poker, going everywhere, I didn’t see no cast.”
@TheAllStarSport #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/toF4sbico9
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 8, 2024
I thought sending this shirt to Matt Frevola was a bit of a d—k move at first, but then previous tweets revealed it was Frevola’s idea, and now I’m fully on board.
Do you ship to the states??? https://t.co/kDSF2UJYGP
— Matt “The Steamrolla”Frevola (@SteamRollaa) January 9, 2024
T shirt for me & an outfit for my son coming in May. Thank you @BenoitSt_Denis & @LalouCroft
?? https://t.co/jYqJxQrRbq pic.twitter.com/01xKnp1cAz
— Matt “The Steamrolla”Frevola (@SteamRollaa) February 8, 2024
I do not like this news.
Got told per multiple sources that the previously announced fight between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Shamil Gaziev will now headline #UFCVegas87 on March 2nd. With that, the event finally got a main event. pic.twitter.com/FqTkaRwPja
— Marcel Dorff (@BigMarcel24) February 9, 2024
I’m going to have difficulty spelling his name for at least two years, but this man’s fit is tremendous. The Mongolian talent is 8-0 at 25 years of age.
???RTU???????????????????????????????????UFC?????????????????
Nyamjargal Tumendemberel who won two reserve fights at this year’s Asia Road to UFC, just signed a multi-fight deal with UFC!#OTR pic.twitter.com/ZCW7RxGHwI— Shu Hirata | ?????? (@ShuHirata) February 8, 2024
Who knows whether or not Zabit Magomedsharipov would’ve become UFC champion, but the man always had some slick moves.
Zabit still got it. pic.twitter.com/LvRhovYUx2
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) February 8, 2024
Favorite left hook in MMA history is a difficult question. Jose Aldo vs. Jeremy Stephens comes to mind!
This is my favorite left hook in combat sports, what is yours¿ pic.twitter.com/QDjl5NmtvN
— Movement Martials (@MVMNTMartials) February 8, 2024
Featherweight violence in the works:
Bill Algeo will fight Kyle Nelson at #UFCAtlanticCity on March 30th. (first rep. @mma_kings) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2024 pic.twitter.com/98H31wg9Rx
— Marcel Dorff (@BigMarcel24) February 8, 2024
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Jeremiah Wells is one of the mostly oddly athletic fighters in recent memory.
You did NOT want to run into Jeremiah Wells (@Jeremiahwellsm2) on the regional scene.
The former @CFFCMMA champ makes looks to improve his @UFC record to 5-1 this Saturday at #UFCVegas86 pic.twitter.com/OTy3f5b0RX
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) February 8, 2024
More “Robocop” content!
Flashback to when Gregory Rodrigues (@gregory_mma) captured the @LFAFighting middleweight belt
He takes on Brad Tavares Saturday at #UFCVegas86 pic.twitter.com/wOqDJnA9z2
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) February 8, 2024
A great Muay Thai highlight!
Chamuekpet Hapalang. Technical, powerful, clinical, durable.#muaythai pic.twitter.com/9dwR26ZoES
— Muay Thai Scholar (@MuayThaiScholar) February 8, 2024
Random Land
A quick word from a founding father:
Ben Franklin https://t.co/lYXhMqlXLI pic.twitter.com/hy5SszIPgl
— Alexis Pereira (@MrAlexisPereira) February 8, 2024
Midnight Music: Folk, 1965
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.