Photo by Jeff Bottari/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!
The beef between Darren Till and Mike Perry has been entertaining. It’s featured all sorts of colorful and threatening language from Perry, whereas Till took the high road by creating an Instagram account and website devoted to trashing “Platinum.” There was a point where it seemed serious, and the two appeared likely to fight, but since then the trajectory of their careers has differed.
Look at their current situations: Perry is in potential legal and promotional hot water for his latest bar brawl (WATCH IT!), whereas Till is just a few days away from headlining a Middleweight fight against former champion Robert Whittaker.
Darren Till on Mike Perry:
“He’s talking like next time he sees me he’s gonna poke me in the eye or something.”
“I hope he does well, I hope he gets the fights he wants.”
“He needs to worry about his path first before he starts worrying about me.”
via @btsportufc #UFC pic.twitter.com/bb0LQsnpv7
— Chisanga Malata (@Chisanga_Malata) July 20, 2020
Speaking with BTSport, Till amicably dismissed the chances of ever fighting Perry, “That’s the fight game. You have to be able to take it all on the chin, and he obviously can’t. He’s talking like next time he sees me he’s gonna poke me in the eye or something. That’s not going to be happen, I’m 6-foot-2, I’ll lift him straight off his feet.
“I don’t take offense to it. I hope he does well, I hope he gets the fights he wants. He’s never going to fight me. I’m fighting contenders and former champs, he needs to worry about his path first before he starts worrying about me, cause he ain’t getting that fight.”
Though both men are fairly young in their careers and could conceivably find one another inside the Octagon later on, Till accurately breaks down why it’s not going to happen anytime soon. On the bright side, we can use Perry’s reaction to these fairly innocuous comments as a gauge for how effectively his UFC-mandated behavioral counseling program is working.
Insomnia
On a semi-related note, Till is taking over the world.
USADA might want to invest in some international agents, particularly since its even easier to score PEDs in many foreign countries.
@TMarretaMMA and I spent 2 months in Russia and then 6 in Brazil. @usantidoping did not test us once! My first week in the US and I’ve already been tested. Makes we wonder if all the athletes training outside of the United States are being tested regularly @ufc @UFCRussia
— Yana Kunitskaya (@YanaKunitskaya1) July 21, 2020
Forget Cody Garbrandt and forget Bantamweight fights, new Flyweight kingpin Deiveson Figueiredo wants Brandon Moreno in November, which sounds like an awesome fight!
It appears, based on this exchange, new UFC flyweight champion Deveison Figueiredo wants to fight Brandon Moreno in November https://t.co/SxxG7AjGhl pic.twitter.com/kIXFjzzPN5
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 21, 2020
Rafael Fiziev’s body kicks were a thing of beauty against Marc Diakiese, but “Bonecrusher” did absorb them well!
Oh! That’s why! Good job bro ? https://t.co/X1aMnq97Ml
— Rafael “Ataman” Fiziev (@RafaelFiziev) July 20, 2020
This is some real slick wrestling.
Remembering Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov with some Dagestani basketball:
Dagestani basketball with Khabibs father pic.twitter.com/Yb3O4jAvuo
— MMA Gone Wild (@mmagonewild) July 20, 2020
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Hard snap kicks, digging low kicks, punches … ouch!
Luis Guerrero TKO1 Luis Rey Gallegos with punches and low kicks. Gallegos was dropped hard in an exchange about a minute earlier. #LUX009 pic.twitter.com/3UVOaIZ7fV
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) July 18, 2020
This clip has some of the wildest and longest elbow exchanges I’ve ever seen. If you watch one post tonight …
Saeksan and Thanonchai go to war in R3. Elbow madness. pic.twitter.com/2Wx3IpHbzS
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) July 18, 2020
Triangle-armbar is a great combo. In this case, Chernyshev uses the triangle as a control position more than choke, using it to isolate and attack the elbow joint.
Nikolay Chernyshev submits Muslim Dzhurabaev with a nasty triangle + shoulder lock #MMASeries10 pic.twitter.com/1A0MilnbZt
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) July 18, 2020
Random Land
This protester in Portland tanking a few baton whacks and some pepper spray is pretty metal.
This guy in Portland tonight must be made of steel. Unreal. pic.twitter.com/5rg7CEvaKU
— Joshua Potash (@JoshuaPotash) July 19, 2020
Midnight Music: Had a request last night, so here’s a fun reminder that Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde is one of the better jazz rap albums of the ‘90s.
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.