Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!
Welcome to Midnight Mania!
It’s not official, but it seems like Kevin Lee may have found a dance partner in Diego Sanchez for his Eagle FC debut.
“They spoke to me about Diego Sanchez, so I might go ahead and do that one… The first Ultimate Fighter is known for putting on great fights, he’s going to go out there swinging and you know you’ll get a great fight out of him,” Kevin Lee explained (via BJPenn.com). “He’s not afraid to fight anybody, it just makes a lot of sense, it makes sense for him, it makes sense for me. We’ll probably get that one done.”
Later, Lee posted that he’d signed a contract to compete next year, seemingly confirming the rumored Sanchez bout. The Instagram post has since been deleted, but Lee wrote “Christmas came early this year! Contract signed. I’m fighting the first ever Ultimate Fighter on March 11th in Miami #EagleFC“
Lee was released from UFC earlier this year following his loss to Daniel Rodriguez, ending his stint in the Octagon having lost three of his last four bouts. Prior to those struggles, however, Lee at one point won five in a row and challenged for the interim UFC Lightweight title.
Sanchez’s UFC career also ended in unfortunate fashion. Even ignoring the “creepy weirdo” coach who took advantage of him, Sanchez has lost more often than not in the last five years. Most recently, Sanchez suffered a unanimous decision loss to Jake Matthews at UFC 253.
Insomnia
Did y’all catch last weekend’s Sparta kick? Charles Jourdain is awesome.
— MS (@UFC_Obsessed) December 23, 2021
A fun Flyweight booking!
Tim Elliott will fight Tagir Ulanbekov at #UFC272 on March 5th. (per @TeamIridiumISA) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN pic.twitter.com/UwiB3SyEuz
— Marcel Dorff (@BigMarcel24) December 23, 2021
Belal Muhammad takes another shot at Khamzat Chimaev — how “Borz” continues to handle the weight cut may be a major factor in his would-be Welterweight run.
Don’t eat to many holiday cookies during this break @KChimaev pic.twitter.com/JlBOQkqxzq
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) December 24, 2021
I don’t know what the backstory is, but enjoy Kayla Harrison’s rendition of “My Heart Will Go On.”
@KaylaH look at you, this is more impressive than all your judo and MMA wins and accomplishes without a doubt
I mean what a performance this is, fantastic pic.twitter.com/LFmLxWTXZh— SAMAN.NORUZINEZHAD (@noruzinezhad) December 24, 2021
Are we looking at the return of UBEREEM in 2022?
The Reem looking BIG heading in 2022! pic.twitter.com/mYFKxh5mgN
— Beyond Kickboxing (@Beyond_Kick) December 23, 2021
Just Sean Strickland being Sean Strickland.
Coach @Eric_XCMMA“Hey Sean, why don’t you spar @roynelsonmma” I reply “I like to spar hard and I know you’re not in camp, are you sure?” Roy looks at me and starts GIGGLING… at that moment I knew I was on the path to CTE lol!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/Z2vVQkcgYa
— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) December 24, 2021
Slips, rips, and KO clips
What’s your pick for the best UFC knockout of the year? As much as I don’t want to admit it, I’d probably give my vote to Cory Sandhagen over Frankie Edgar.
Your 2021 Knockout of the Year nominees
Cast your vote !
[ #UFCHonors | Presented By @ToyoTires ]
— UFC (@ufc) December 24, 2021
Mike Tyson highlights, always worth another watch!
Mike Tyson doubling up on the right hand pic.twitter.com/LPRu1eKhzQ
— Downward Elbow (@DownwardElbow) December 24, 2021
The legend Saenchai beat up another opponent last weekend.
Random Land
Merry Christmas, y’all!
Someone in my county set up a tree by her wildlife camera and caught these. Guess what I’m doing tomorrow? pic.twitter.com/EefTqJNkjd
— Chris (@mama_c6) December 23, 2021
Midnight Music: I do a track off this album every year for MM’s Christmas post!
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.