Midnight Mania! ‘PVZ’ Returns (But Not Against Maycee Barber)

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

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It’s been a difficult year for Paige VanZant (8-4), who successfully re…

UFC Fight Night: VanZant v Ostovich

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

It’s been a difficult year for Paige VanZant (8-4), who successfully returned from injuries in January to secure a second-round armbar submission of Rachael Ostovich. However, she fractured her surgically repaired arm once again, sending her back under the knife. As she’s looked to once again make a comeback to competition, VanZant has publicly beefed with top prospect Maycee Barber and expressed an interest in exploring free agency once her contract is up.

Before all that, however, a report from MMAFighting.com revealed that “12 Gauge” will first square off with Amanda Ribas (8-1) on March 14th in Brasilia, Brazil. The contracts are still unsigned, but the two have verbally agreed to fight.

Ribas will enter following the biggest win of her career, a dominant three-round decision opposite previously-unbeaten Mackenzie Dern. VanZant is currently the No. 15-ranked contender at 125 lbs., so this bout will serve as an opportunity for Ribas to break into that mix.

Insomnia

The full Gina Carano interview is pretty crazy, and I highly suggest reading the entire post below! This could’ve been a huge fight, so one has to wonder why UFC/Dana White was so impatient with the booking process.

Max Holloway with the fun photoshop ahead of UFC 245:

Analyzing perhaps the year’s best single punch:

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How to Maximize Punching Power ••••••••••••••••• When throwing a punch there are several movements occurring near simultaneously to produce a powerful strike: 1??Ground reaction force from the leg push off. 2??Rotational force from the trunk. 3??Velocity of the arm strike. . The power of the strike is generated with the lower extremities while the trunk and arm act as a vehicle to deliver that force. . A study (Lenetsky 2013) examined boxers and punching power, which found that the most experienced boxers used significantly more leg activation compared to less experienced boxers. Leg contribution to total power: 38.6% for experienced boxers vs. 32.2% for intermediate boxers / 16.5% for novice boxers. The same study looked at comparing boxing styles: knockout artists vs. other styles (“players”/”combination fighters”). Leg contribution to total power: 38.6% for the KO artists vs. 32.6% for the other style fighters. . There are three take aways from this study: 1??Core stability is essential for being able to transfer force. The core musculture are postural muscles not phasic muscles so they are trained differently. These muscle respond by stabilizing/ resisting movements (ex: plank) compared to using abdominal muscles for movement (ex: sit up). 2??Learning/emphasizing using your legs to generate power. This comes down to skill training. 3??Developing leg strength & power: Through axial and longitudinal leg / glute exercises. . A great example of punching power is Deontay Wilder. Last night was Wilder vs Ortiz II and @bronzebomber threw a perfect right cross to KO Ortiz. In slow motion you can see how he pushes off that back foot and energy transfers up the chain to the fist. With a 95+% KO rate Wilder is one of the best KO artists in boxing history and a great example of how to generate power.

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Dustin Poirier with the brilliant strategic adjustment — 90% of the time, it works every time.

For any bow hunters, this is the episode for you:

Big credit to Uriah Hall for this post, especially since the 35-year-old veteran does seem to be putting it together better than before in recent fights.

I appreciated this Yves Edwards throwback. The “Thugjitsu Master” was the man in his day, definitely a fighter worth digging up the fight videos of his prime.

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Can’t nobody tell me nothing #tbt

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Slips, rips, and KO clips

Over the weekend, Umar Nurmagomedov delivered some of the most violent ground striking I’ve seen in some time.

This uppercut just looked so effortless.

This right hand set up by the dipping jab was not quite as smooth, but it was still plenty powerful!

Random Land

As assortment of fancy foot skill courtesy of “The Big Pygmy:”

Midnight Music: The first posthumous album of the great Leonard Cohen, Thanks for the Dance, released on Friday, a collection of leftover songs that were worked on after his death by Cohen’s son and a host of well-known musicians like Beck. Like the rest of his releases in the 2010s, Cohen’s voice is a croak, but then, was Cohen’s voice ever the appeal? If his whispered vocals don’t bother you, the brilliant songwriting and quiet beauty that were signatures of his work can still be found.

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