Midnight Mania: ‘Kill Your Opponent By Any Means Necessary’

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Power Slap, the stimulant-riddled brain child of UFC CEO Dana White, is getting more dangerous.

That’s according to Ohio’s “King of Kings,” Ryan Phillips, who has competed four times as a Heavyweight in Power Slap. Holding a record of 2-2, the 40-year-old slap fighter is dismayed to see the direction the sport is taking. According to Phillips, the referees are continually failing to punish slaps involving the forearm and wrist, which are supposed to be illegal. Athletes are winning bouts (and inflicting damage) by hitting with illegal areas, and there’s no oversight afterward to punish them.

“Hitting with your forearm and wrist is now permitted,” Phillips wrote on an Instagram story. “Don’t worry about fouls cause there are none anymore. Just make sure you kill your opponent by any means necessary for the highlight reel. Watching my friends get seriously injured because of negligence in officiating (possible corruption?) making my blood boil.”

He continued, “You can bend rules in other sports, but this is not the one. The rules are to keep us safe, however, they are no longer being enforced. We’re talking 5-10 missed calls a card. No review after knockdown as promised and you have [coaches] up there who do nothing but chase flies and have no clue what they are doing. One coach gets hammered before he even goes up there, but who cares. Who cares about your health and longevity? The beginning was great. Now, we’re just nose diving straight into the ground. [In my opinion], it’s no longer safe and the [money] doesn’t support this.”

On a related note, Phillips is now retired from Power Slap.

Despite White’s insistence that Power Slap is destined for sports greatness, very few others are in support. It’s widely viewed as a joke by fight fans, and several medical professionals have pointed out the obvious: it’s a terribly dumb (and not very lucrative) way to secure some brain trauma.

If competitors like Phillips are losing interest, that could be a problem for the developing league.

Insomnia

Old school wrestling footage between two names every fight fan should know.

Tyron Woodley goes viral for the most wild reasons …

Please don’t do it Fedor.

This clip is such a tease, but it’s cool to see these two names in the gym together. Only a couple years ago, we’re talking about a potential super fight …

It’s good to see Chris Leben involved with combat sports in a healthy way.

Professional kickboxers do not f—k around with their sparring.

Credit where credit is due: this is a killer bet!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Thiago Alves was so sharp in his prime before injuries slowed him down, and even then he was still really technical. Where would you rank a prime “Pitbull” in 2025?

Closed a lot of distance with his left step-in then threw an absolute fastball:

Michal Oleksiejczuk’s little brother is now 15-3 with 10 wins via stoppage. Time for a UFC call up!

Random Land

I was suggested this RL post with the accompanied question of what UFC fighter would you pick to best complete the course? I’m voting Merab!

Midnight Music: Dream pop, 1984

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