Midnight Mania! Mighty Mouse Might Retire After Moraes Trilogy

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Demetrious Johnson never became a true super star, but real fight fans know he’s one of the greatest fighters of all time. Certainly, he’s among the most dominant champions of his era, having set the record for most consecutive title defenses in UFC history. During that run, he scored massive knockouts and flying armbars, establishing himself as a truly special athlete and champion.

“Mighty Mouse” didn’t leave UFC on a low note either, coughing up the closest of split-decisions to Henry Cejudo prior to jumping ship to One Championship. Since making the switch, Johnson won three straight fights to win the One Flyweight Grand Prix. Afterward, he suffered an upset loss to Adriano Moraes then scored his revenge — both fights ended in incredible knee knockouts!

Now 36 years of age, Johnson has been there and done that. Talking with The Score, “Mighty Mouse” acknowledged that he’s coming close to the end of his career. When asked if his May 5 trilogy bout with Moraes could be his last, Johnson answered “It could be. You never know.”

He explained, “Right now, the kids are at the beach, having a good time, enjoying life, feeding seals, and that’s stuff that I’m missing. My kids will only be nine, eight, and four once.

“I think after this fight, I’ll decide what I want to do. I want to compete in IBJJF in my Gi and work toward my black belt. … But I don’t want to fight for two more years. I have no interest. When I hear two more years, I’m like, ‘Ew, that sounds horrible.’”

It’s already been a long path for Johnson, who made his professional debut in 2007. He was in World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) just three years later then fought for the UFC Bantamweight title in 2011, which means he’s already been fighting at a very elite level for an unusually long period of time.

“I’ve been doing this for 18 years – ever since I was 18 years old,” Johnson concluded. “At some point, if you stay at the party for too long, you end up drunk. I don’t want to get drunk.”

Insomnia

Aljamain Sterling shows off some light sparring footage

Beneil Dariush and Arman Tsarukyan are both awesome. Lightweight is awesome. That is all.

Darren Till is online bantering again, now with professional boxers.

Kevin Holland is one of the best at hurting his opponent with weird techniques. This one reminds me of the Dan Henderson back elbow vs. Hector Lombard!

Max Holloway does so many little things well, and he compounds it by doing all of them at a high-volume and building off reads quickly.

Luke Rockhold is putting in the work for his bare knuckle showdown opposite Mike Perry.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

I adore Bobby Green. One of the slickest boxers to ever fight inside the Octagon!

No one ever expects consecutive spinning hook kicks.

Notice how Natalia Kuziutina slides her left knee high and wraps her right leg around the ribs before sitting back? That’s good technique.

Random Land

Flipbook graffiti art.

Midnight Music: Psychobilly, 1981

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