Midnight Mania! ‘Tell Me He’s Not Washed’

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Israel Adesanya’s path moving forward is pretty clear. Per the man himself, Adesanya intends to jump up to 205 lbs. next and face Jan Blachowicz in an attempt to become double champ. That bout appears to be a done deal, and afterward, Adesanya is targeting a Summer showdown with Jon Jones (sorry Whittaker).

The threat of “Polish Power” may be pretty considerable, but Adesanya is already looking past his opponent and taking shots at the Jones, who certainly took his time in moving up in weight.

“I’m about to do what he hasn’t done in over 10 years, which is jump up in weight,” Adesanya told ESPN (transcription via MMAFighting). “I didn’t go recycle all my old opponents and scrap them or find new lower-tier guys to fight. I just said, f*ck it, I’m a go up. So I’m gonna do what he hasn’t done in over 10 years, I’m gonna do it in just under three years. … I don’t know, it depends who his next fight is, but I’ve seen the guy live. You can look at his last five fights. Tell me he’s not washed.”

In addition, Adesanya elaborated on a perceived jealousy of Jones. The two trade shots back-and-forth, but “Stylebender” believes Jones acts out whenever Adesanya is getting attention from his own performances.

“Jon Jones, watch any fight that Jon Jones has ever had in the last year and a half,” Adesanya said. “I don’t say sh*t unless I’m asked about it. But anytime I fight he’s always saying something stupid trying to prod. It happened from the Atlanta fight, 236, since then any fight I’ve had he’s always had something to say to try and like, I don’t know if he’s stealing the spotlight, but cancel some of my shine if you will.

“I can’t fathom why he’s jealous of me, because he shouldn’t be jealous of me, but he is. I can tell you this because it’s easy to recognize when you’ve been there, when you’ve been that green-eyed monster, it’s easy to recognize when you see it in other people. I see it and he’s jealous of me because I’m doing exactly what he wished he could have done. … He is definitely a ‘clout trout.’ He’s a clout trout. Hundred percent. King fish clout trout, bar none, 400-pound clout trout.”

As mentioned, there are still several obstacles between a showdown between Adesanya and Jones. Still, Adesanya’s predictions for his career have largely come true, and it would surely be one of the biggest fights of whatever year it takes place!

Insomnia

I love tattoos, and I am not one to look for meaning or question anything beyond the quality of the actual tattooing, which is nice here, but … can someone explain what is on the back of Kevin Lee’s head to me? Is it a scene of hell? A helmet/headdress? Answers are needed.

The force is all around us.

A crazy smooth sweep!

Congratulations to councilman Tito Ortiz! I am already confident his new job will provide much content for this column.

Thiago Santos and Yana Kunitskaya suffer the latest version of a COVID test:

Keep complaining about Curtis Blaydes while he keeps winning fights …

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Brendan Allen returns this weekend opposite Ian Heinisch. Here’s him demolishing some poor overmatched soul:

Khalid Taha also fights this weekend, as he’ll take on Raoni Barcelos in the main card opener.

One Championship put on a pretty fun event last week that saw stoppages in several title fights.

Random Land

From the account itself, “Yes, they are okay. No, this is not fake. Yes, this is Jonah from the Bible and we’re living in end times. Good day.”

Midnight Music: Went with some old school country tonight!

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