Midnight Mania! Turn Down A Fight, Get Treated Like S—t

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Sean O’Malley is one of the brightest young stars on the UFC roster. Even if one is not a fan of his antics or doesn’t foresee “Suga” capturing a UFC title, he’s nevertheless proven himself as a considerable draw, building quite a bit of star power in the last couple years. At the very least, he’s more than the average “Contenders Series” product. Most recently, O’Malley styled on late-notice (but ultra tough) replacement Kris Moutinho, earning a third-round stoppage at UFC 264 back in July.

Despite his current win streak, O’Malley feels disrespected by UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby, who was not pleased when O’Malley was less than interesting in fight at UFC 268 due to taxes and a scheduling conflict.

“Sean Shelby was mad at me,” O’Malley explained on his podcast (via SportsKeeda). “Dude, I don’t wanna fight in New York. It’s far, the taxes are ridiculous, and Tim (Welch) has no-Gi or no, ADCC trials that weekend. And he told me that before I even potentially had a fight. So, that’s his thing, and I’m not gonna say, ‘No. I have a fight’. We’re doing it, especially when I could fight like a month later in Vegas. And Sean Shelby was just like, mad and like, ‘Fine. Go hang out with 6ix9ine’. Like, just acting like a f**king tool, dude. So, I don’t know if I should’ve said that or not. But it’s like, dude, come on. What do you do?”

“They don’t need me,” O’Malley admitted. “But don’t treat me like that. Like, act like I’m not training or nothing. ‘Go, you’re hanging out with 6ix9ine, dude’. Like, I’m hanging out with him once. Well, three days, but, man, don’t make it up. Yeah, so, it’s like, ‘Cool, dude. Treat me like a piece of s**t’. No, it’s like, dude, I would rather not deal with him at all and just deal with Dana.”

O’Malley continued on to explain the lack of balance in his relationship with UFC. Though the promotion can function without him, O’Malley also understands that he draws a considerable amount of viewers, so he is a valuable asset for the company and deserves to be paid appropriately.

This may not be the most dramatic example, but it is yet another occasion where one of UFC’s relatively few stars is unhappy with his treatment.

Insomnia

Does Derrick Lewis break the tie for knockouts tomorrow night?

The MMA Gods giveth, and the MMA Gods taketh away. Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler is running into issues …

A slow-mo highlight of Brandon Moreno’s slickness vs. Deiveson Figueiredo — that really was a hell of a performance!

WEC never die!

Am I out of touch? No, it’s the fighters who are wrong.

Whatever happens at UFC 265, Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane will eventually be an awesome fight with some quality history behind it.

No takedown without control! In most MMA rooms, that’s two points for red.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

The amount of pressure on the shoulder/arm here makes me quite uncomfortable.

A whole bunch of Heavyweight slugging highlights from One Championship:

Certain chokes can be escaped by a crafty veteran ever after they’re seemingly locked in. The rear naked choke-grip guillotine is not one of them!

Random Land

A different type of interior design!

Midnight Music: Brooklyn’s greatest street poet returned with his 14th studio album last night, King’s Disease 2. His second full project collaboration with producer Hit-Boy, it’s an improvement from last year’s Grammy winner, and IT FEATURES A LAURYN HILL RAP VERSE!

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