Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!
Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Paige VanZant is at a career crossroads.
Her previous bout was the last on her contract. Previous to the fight, VanZant vocally expressed her belief that she was underpaid given her name value and fame from beyond the sport. When she was quickly submitted by Amanda Ribas at UFC 251, UFC President Dana White pretty much showed her the door.
Regardless of what banner she was fighting under, VanZant did need a change of training, as evidenced by her losses in three of four fights. To that end, it would appear that VanZant intends to relocate from American Top Team (ATT) West Coast to the team’s primary location in Coconut Creek, Florida, which currently houses dozens of UFC veterans and elite fighters.
Moving to ATT is rarely a bad move. It’s one of the biggest and best gyms in the sport, filled with top-notch coaches and experienced training partners like Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Amanda Nunes, who could surely help “PVZ” fix up the holes in her game.
Perhaps more interesting, however, is that this move comes not long after The Sun reported that VanZant is rumored to be joining Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. BKFC would certainly be something of an unexpected move — safe money was on Bellator, which has an active women’s Flyweight division — but it’s not unbelievable. After all, BKFC clearly has some major funding, as they recently tried to sway Mike Tyson to their ring with a $20 million offer.
If “12 Gauge” wants a pay raise, BKFC has the cash. Still, it has to be asked: would it be a good move for an athlete who self-admittedly makes a majority of her income via Instagram to sign up for the face-blender that is bare knuckle competition?
Oh, and before anyone gets the wrong idea, I wouldn’t advise #PoloBlue model Luke Rockhold to jump into those bloody waters either!
Insomnia
A trio of responses to the announcement that Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Cody Garbrandt will headline UFC 255:
Deiveson Figueiredo’s manager Wallid Ismail told me via text this morning, Figueiredo wants everyone to know he’s promising a knock out against Cody Garbrandt. “Tell everybody, we’re knocking him out.”
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) August 7, 2020
He better hope he does! Lol I’m going to break his ass in there! Watch #WorldClassCardio https://t.co/CdHRm1R69s
— Cody Garbrandt (@Cody_Nolove) August 7, 2020
For those who don’t speak Spanish: “Apparently I lacked tattoos, followers and being ko’d three times in a row. My chin is way too healthy to get a title shot” is Brandon Moreno’s response to todays news: https://t.co/OFzcrGIstE
— Rodrigo Del Campo (@RodDelCampo) August 7, 2020
Corey Anderson seems to be in good spirits now that he’s heading to Bellator. Who should “Overtime” fight in his debut?
I thank the @ufc for the smooth process of getting a release and thank @BellatorMMA for giving me a new home. I came into the ufc with 3 official fights, grew/learned the game there, and now going to bellator a veteran of the game. LETS GO!! BIG s/o to my man @AliAbdelaziz00
— Corey Anderson UFC (@CoreyA_MMA) August 7, 2020
It’s been a while since I’ve posted a clip of Liam Harrison assaulting mitts. His videos are always worth-watching.
I’ve read this has since been fixed, but it is still worth-noting just how terrifying the Slenderman version of Paul Felder is.
What did they do to Paul Felder pic.twitter.com/mCsVDqueBO
— Connoisseur of Combat (@ConOfCombat) August 6, 2020
I don’t know if/when Sage Northcutt is going to fight again, but he still looks pretty strong!
Slips, rips, and KO clips
It takes some real confidence to fight with hands down in bare knuckle.
Nathaniel Wood had to come back from pretty dire circumstances to get this win, but he’s yet another quality Bantamweight prospect.
It’s been a while since there’s been fresh amateur boxing content available!
Random Land
This octopus video is CGI, but it’s also pretty neat!
Midnight Music: The Lost Tapes is a great album for fans of jazzy, lyrical hip hop.
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.