Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!
Welcome to Midnight Mania!
The beef between Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones is not slowing down. If anything, it’s ramping up, as Adesanya has used his time in quarantine to poke and prod Jones from Twitter. Admittedly, it was Jones who reignited the beef, firing some shots at Adesanya after his dominant victory over Paulo Costa (HIGHLIGHTS).
The insults have indeed grown ugly, involving both family members and Jones’ various legal troubles. Speaking with MMAJunkie, Adesanya explained why he has no problems getting personal with Jones.
“Don’t mention my father,” Adesanya said. “I don’t give a (expletive) if your mom’s dead. I’m sure she was a beautiful woman, a beautiful soul, but I don’t give a (expletive) if she’s dead. Don’t mention my dad. Do not mention my family. This is business, this is work. Yeah, sure, mention my coach. Cool. But don’t mention anything personal. You think you can get down and dirty? Mother(expletive) I’m from the gutter. I can get grimy. You don’t understand Nigerians. Trust me, you don’t want this war.
“If you want to go down back-and-forth dirty, bro. You don’t even know the gutter, from your little posh, suburban spot in New Mexico. You don’t know, bro. Trust me. He wants to get down and dirty and start mentioning family members? And people will say, ‘You should’ve mentioned his dad instead.’ It’s not up to you to decide what I do. You mentioned my family. It’s open season. You’re lucky I didn’t come for other members of your family.”
Afterward, Adesanya explained how the personal nature of their feud would not affect his decision on when to fight Jones. “Stylebender” clearly has his own timeline in mind, and it involves building momentum, improving himself, and defending his title further before stepping up in weight.
However, that doesn’t mean the bout is unreasonably far off, as Adesanya predicts he will square off with Jones in July 2021. He also expects the fight to be a major event, to say the least.
“That’s the biggest fight in UFC history,” Adesanya said. “I’ve set the date. I’ve set it a long time ago. … I’ve said it on many, many platforms. And it’s going to happen. But they’re trying to force it. They tried to get me three fights ago. They’re trying to force my hand because they don’t understand the power of momentum. I’m telling you, man, I can’t be stopped right now. Don’t get me wrong. It’s me. I can stop myself. But the momentum I have right now, I can’t be stopped. It’s a force you can’t (expletive) with.”
Insomnia
There is a soft heart inside the human leg-kicking machine known as Edson Barboza.
Beautiful moment as @vevyrodrigues shows Edson Barboza a video of his kids, who gets emotional. pic.twitter.com/U4WDV9QuiD
— Oscar Willis (@oscarswillis) October 7, 2020
The whole video can be viewed HERE, but this clip really sums up the Bryce Mitchell car commercial succinctly.
I would never complain about slow fight night pacing if we got quality commercials like this. pic.twitter.com/HOFco1gQj8
— MS (@UFC_Obsessed) October 8, 2020
Mike Perry vs. Conor McGregor is a fight that will never, ever happen. But would I watch it in a heartbeat (ideally with a cam girl filled corner)? Yes.
After I beat @Ruthless_RL , let’s go Conor. @TheNotoriousMMA a stand up fight everybody will want to see. https://t.co/XRfCcuuWKQ
— Platinum Mike Perry (@PlatinumPerry) October 8, 2020
Dustin Poirier puts in some work on the speed bag:
This whole transition from standing omoplata to x-guard straight into a guard pass was pretty sweet!
Yelling back at a backseat driver (outside-cage-fighter?) while actively fighting is a considerable flex.
Slips, rips, and KO clips
France officially welcomed MMA into its legal world of combat sports, and with that comes spinning sh*t.
The first spinning finish in French MMA history!!
cc: @arielhelwani#MMAGPParis pic.twitter.com/uU4OyAUjru
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) October 8, 2020
Some Muay Thai highlights courtesy of Damien Alamos:
Watch Justin Gaethje live up to his nickname back in the World Series of Fighting (WSOF) days.
Random Land
These numbers regarding blue whales are nearly unfathomable.
Midnight Music: A buddy advised me to listen to Bruce Springsteen’s debut Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., so I did that for the first time in probably a couple years. Holds up!
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.