Midnight Mania: ‘I Could Smell Your Fear’

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Jon Jones’ status as one of the greatest of all time means that everyone wants a piece of “Bones.” He reigned over the Light Heavyweight division for most of a decade before finally taking a chance on his Heavyweight aspirations. That risk was rewarded with a shot at the vacant belt opposite Ciryl Gane, who Jones submitted inside a round to become champion.

Since then, Jones has dealt with injury and delay to his planned Stipe Miocic title defense. There’s some controversy there regarding whether or not interim kingpin Tom Aspinall deserves a chance at gold rather than the aging former champion, but back when Jones finally announced his intentions to vacate the 205-pound crown, there was no issue. Everyone agreed it was time … or at least, almost everyone agreed!

Former (and, at the time, future) champion Jan Blachowicz wanted to square off with “Bones” and was next-in-line when Jones vacated his belt. He was immediately displeased at losing the chance to fight Jones, and he apparently has never really let go of those feelings. Recent quotes from Blachowicz still allege that Jones “escaped to Heavyweight” to avoid losing to Blachowicz, and “Bones” reacted online.

“I swear I have a spy in my camp, how else would he had known this?” Jones pondered. “Over here, scratching my head.” Jones also listed Blachowicz as an example of a flash-in-the-pan match up, writing him off as “Perfect example, here today, gone tomorrow. Legendary Polish power now nonexistent.”

Blachowicz responded to Jones’ remark, claiming “I didn’t need to put any spies on your team. I could smell your fear even across ocean.”

At the moment, both men are recovering from injury. Jones tore his pec muscle preparing for Stipe Miocic back in October 2023, whereas Jan Blachowicz underwent surgery on both shoulders in December 2023. While they may be returning at roughly the same time later this year, they will most assuredly not be doing so against one another.

Insomnia

Why does UFC insist on giving its most tired soldier so many 25-minute fights?

Nothing like a hard-earned battle wound.

Tito Ortiz, absolute champion of unintentional comedy.

A pair of Brazilian greats over the years:

This is a really sweet sequence.

An interesting look at the BKFC weigh-ins. Mike Perry really doesn’t seem to have any business fighting at 185 pounds!

Nothing like the love and support of fans.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Minoru Kimura apparently competed in Mortal Kombat and win via fatality.

If you throw three incredibly slow kicks in a row, you cannot be surprised when your opponent comes down the middle with a counter.

Blood Diamond is a cool name and all, but the man is on a rough skid.

Random Land

Cleaning up the mean streets.

Midnight Music: The last time I wrote MM last Friday evening, I picked a Big Black song. Sadly, Big Black guitarist (and several other bands) and legendary producer, Steve Albini, passed on Tuesday at the age of 61. If you like Nirvana, The Pixies, Bush, PJ Harvey … Albini is a name to know!

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.