Midnight Mania! Nunes Plans to Defend 145-lb. Belt After Beating Holm

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

No one has yet captured and then simultaneously defended two titles in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Not Conor McGregor, not Daniel Cormier — but UFC bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes hopes to be the first. Via MMAJunkie.com:

For sure (I plan to) defend both, I will defend my belt at 135 then go up and defend my belt after at 145.

Nunes has a uniquely decorated resume, perhaps the most impressive in women’s MMA. She has defeated just about every other female champion anywhere close to her weight class, from Valentina Shevchenko to Ronda Rousey to Meisha Tate, all the way up to Cris Cyborg. The only former champion who she hasn’t yet defeated is Holly Holm. When asked what her plans are, Nunes was very cognizant of that.

“Keep making history,” Nunes said. “Holly’s the only champion, the former champion, that I don’t beat yet. She’s going to be the next.”

The main issue with Nunes defending her featherweight belt is that the division is basically nonexistent except for Cris Cyborg. The second-best fighter at featherweight is, in fact, Holly Holm herself. Would Nunes rematch Cyborg?

“Honestly, I think about Holly now then we’ll see next,” Nunes said. “A (Cris) Cyborg rematch? Why not? We’ll see what’s next.”

Her mother will not be happy to hear that. Perhaps Nunes should not be so quick to overlook Holly Holm. Holm is known for her toughness and cardio. If she survives Nunes’ power early, she could give the double champion problems in the later rounds, especially if she manages to take Nunes down and get top control. Nunes and Holm are scheduled to clash in the co-main event of UFC 239 on July 6th.

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Insomnia

Mike Perry accurately captures the shriveled essence of internet warriors.

Combat sports this weekend:

I don’t think Paulo Costa got the point of Yoel Romero’s caption contest.

This is why Colby is the only fighter I have muted.

So many champs.

Conor McGregor has never had one of the new belts.

This was a quote from a documentary released months ago, but it is a reminder of Ronda Rousey’s relationship to MMA fans.

Dustin Poirier doing his talking with emojis.

I wonder if Israel Adesanya vs. Jon Jones ever comes about, and when, if ever, Israel would be physically ready for that. Personally, at this point, I agree with analyst Andrew Richardson that Robert Whittaker would actually be a tougher challenge.

Why not to scare females of any species: they will slap you.

That slam at the end was straight MMA

Great knockout

Hopefully Angela Magana recovers from her coma. This is very scary stuff.

The best three fights of 2019 so far

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Good Reads

• This is actually an interesting question: which early MMA star would develop the most in a modern context?
• It is shocking how little UFC fighters make, and this dive into Lyman Good’s tax statements reflect that. Except for his best two years, I make more than he does, just blogging about the sport, and I don’t get punched in the head for it.
• Anderson Silva can shut up with his bizarre notion that Adesanya showed ‘disrespect’ towards noted Jon Jones (yeah, that Jon Jones). Adesanya already beat Anderson at his own game, so he doesn’t have to listen to anything Anderson says. How’s that for disrespect?

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Derrick Lewis’ Random Land

Thank you, Black Beast

I laughed

Sleep well, Maniacs! A better tomorrow is always possible. Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @Vorpality