Midnight Mania! Till Slides In Adesanya’s DMs, Demands Middleweight Title

Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

The effects of switching weight classes are always difficult to predict. Will a fighter’s power carry over to his or her new home? What about cardio? There’s always a ton of conjecture — see all the opinions about Jose Aldo’s recent cut to Bantamweight — but it’s largely unpredictable until fight night.

Perhaps the most unique change is just how funny Darren Till has become since moving to Middleweight. I’m not trying to argue the English mad lad was a complete bore down at 170 lbs. — anyone else remember that awful “I Don’t Care” interview ahead of the Tyron Woodley fight? — but his personality has really shined in the last couple months since the switch.

On Christmas day, Darren Till took to Instagram to direct message Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and demand his gold. That would generally be grounds for a real feud, but luckily Adesanya has a sense of humor (and three dozen gorilla emojis adds a bit of comic relief).

@stylebender Instagram, screenshot via u/Bomayee

Perhaps the lack of an intense diet and blindness-inducing water cut have allowed Till to show his true colors. Or, as Adesanya suggests, not having to shed quite so many pounds has allowed Till to partake in a few beers now and again. Either way, Till is still looking for a fight, and most of the top Middleweight contenders are booked. Adesanya is seemingly being lined up opposite Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa is recovering from surgery, and Robert Whittaker is set to face Jared Cannonier.

It may be a little while until Till fights again, so expect more shenanigans until that point.

Insomnia

One more from “The Gorilla.”

This is one of those universal fighting truths: everyone looks rough before they clean up on fight week!

This should be a fun scrap, Brandon Moreno’s hands looked plenty sharp last time out!

So much for Tyron Woodley only heading to London on vacation …

Douglas Lima kicks like a horse.

Muay Thai sweeps are so cool.

Joe Rogan vs. The Golden Snitch

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Pretty painful finishing sequence here: left kick to the body definitely started the hurt, and it was followed up with a half-dozen punches that all snapped the head around.

I hated watching this and hope you do too.

It’s an incredibly high-risk strategy to try to counter the double leg with an uppercut — a miss gives up the hips badly — but when it does land …

Random Land

He hung on just a wee bit too long there.

Midnight Music: An all-time great pop song to end the night!

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