Midnight Mania! Roy Jones Jr. to meet UFC about finally boxing Anderson Silva

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania! Tonight, we’ve got Roy Jones Jr. talking about that Anderson Silva fight, Khabib Nurmagomedov summarizing romantic movies, Ronda Rousey trying to pronounce Irish names unsuccessfully, Tony Ferguson doing Wing Chun, insane knockouts, podcasts, puns, paper airplanes, pranks, and much more.

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Insomnia

In an exclusive interview with theMacLife.com, Roy Jones Jr. spoke about the fight that got away with Anderson Silva, and the possibility that it still might happen. As it turns out, there are some parts in motion.

“Me and Anderson have, for five or six years now, been trying to get a boxing match between us. We’re two great icons of our sport, two legends, and it’s not often you get to see two legends get in the ring together. That’s been going on for the last five or six years, and if Conor and Floyd does fight, [our addition] would make it a big event. I mean to put us on the undercard as the co-main would be a really, really big event. Not only us fighting, but people want to see a boxer versus a MMA guy.”

The idea is a golden one on paper, if the elusive McGregor-Mayweather fight ever happens. Dana White is now on record saying that it won’t, which is perhaps the surest sign yet that it might.

Later this week, Jones Jr. is scheduled to meet with UFC bosses, where they’re set to discuss “several things, and we’ll see what happens.”

It is no secret both men have been campaigning for this bout for some time.

“[2013] was the closest [we got to it]. Had he not have lost to Weidman, I think it would have happened. … Anderson still wants it, he’s about 40 years old, he’s reaching the end of his career, he’s reaching the end of his prime zone. I’m reaching the end of my primal age, so if we’re gonna make it happen, there’s no better time than now.

He also commented on McGregor’s prospects against Mayweather, and though he hemmed and hawed, it is clear he doesn’t give the Irishman much of a chance.

“[McGregor’s a] wonderful person, smart person, wonderful fighter. Love watching him in action, he’s one of my favorite fighters. His vision to use the sport to push him into superstar status, I think he’s a wonderful person.

“It’s a tough situation for McGregor, because McGregor is a MMA guy, not necessarily a boxer first. Floyd’s one of the best — if not the best, he’s one of the best — pound for pound boxers to ever live.

“To come off another sport, when the top guys in the sport can’t really beat him, then it’s hard to see a guy whose not in the sport necessarily to beat him, unless he can land one big shot. [Conor’s] gonna be looking to land the big shot, trying to knock him out, and we’ll see what happens.”

This is no surprise — McGregor engaging in a pure boxing match with Mayweather has always been about the money rather than any notion that the fight would be competitive. The same could be said of Anderson Silva, especially the current version of Anderson Silva. Watching him get knocked down by Michael Bisping doesn’t inspire confidence that he can hang with even fellow faded legend Roy Jones Jr.

Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

When asked if we would actually see Roy Jones Jr. vs. Anderson Silva, the boxing legend was cautiously confident.

“I think so. If that fight happens this year, probably.”

I won’t hold my breath.

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Bobs and Weaves

So, the theme of this segment is “foreigners.” First, the Irish. Those guys. Several months ago, Ronda Rousey did her dead level best to pronounce these names. Spoiler alert: She didn’t do so well.

Oh, this is amazing. This will make your day. Khabib Nurmagomedov, who may not be long for this sport, discusses Rom-Coms … and can’t figure out why no one would kiss Drew Barrymore.

Mackenzie Dern plans on making her UFC debut later this year.

Valentina Shevchenko is next in line to fight for Amanda Nunes’ Bantamweight belt, but she says Nunes will do anything to avoid that rematch.

I enjoyed this retrospective comparing UFC’s beginning with it’s current form.

I love everything about this.

Here’s the full UFC 209 “Countdown” episode:

It looks like he used something else in addition to the gentle art:

This game looks fun. I would guess Anthony Pettis, Stephen Thompson, Justin Scoggins or Edson Barboza would be good at this.

Ridiculous puns are, of course, fair game for this column, and unfortunately Cody Pfister will be a victim of them his whole life.

Tyron Woodley’s gotta love this:

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Slips, Rips and KO Clips

The most bizarre MMA has to happen in Japan.

I love this high kick set up:

Champions.co creator Justin Golightly pointed out that this knockout was a cheat code in Mortal Kombat back in the day:

Always good to see the legends honored:

This is ridiculous, Deontay Wilder. What is this?

Tony Ferguson keeps an open mind to every style, it seems. He’s not Ip Man just yet, but he’s El Cucuy, and maybe that’s even better.

Speaking of traditional martial arts:

Hockey fights rarely end this decisively.

Vintage Chris Leben:

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Quick Hits

• Read this amazing article about how “Face the Pain” came to be a UFC fixture.
• Ronda Rousey made a cryptic post and people are going crazy with speculation. Doesn’t look like anything to me.
• Damien Maia might be facing Jorge Masvidal in Nashville.

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Podcasts and Video

MMAmania.com’s Flyin’ Brian J breaks down the co-main event of UFC 209:

UFC Countdown: Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson

The MMA Hour:

The Co-Main Event podcast:

The Monday Morning Analyst:

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Random Land

Some of you Maniacs know about this:

Me at my day job:

This is a hilarious prank:

Stay woke, Maniacs!