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Welcome to Midnight Mania!
It’s never been more expensive to keep up with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) events. Sports Business Journal’s Adam Stern reports that UFC pay-per-view (PPV) events will now cost an addition $5, as the price has been raised from $74.99 to $79.99 per event. That’s just a year after the previous $5 bump, which brought an event up from $69.99 to the current $74.99.
Is ESPN still to blame? Inflation? A disappointing Endeavor stock price? Whatever the case, it remains wildly expensive to follow the sport closely. On average, the promotion holds one PPV event per month, meaning a dedicated fan is out nearly $960 in PPV costs. That’s in addition to the cost of ESPN+ itself, which jumped in price by 43% earlier this year. If a fan is willing and able to splurge for the yearly package, that’s still an additional hundred bucks!
UFC 283 is the first event to charge the new rate. In the headlining contest, Glover Teixeira will battle Jamahal Hill for the vacant Light Heavyweight title, while the co-main event will feature the fourth consecutive Flyweight title fight between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno.
The complete fight card can be viewed HERE! Is it worth your $80?
Insomnia
With some time off between events, expect more goofiness than news in the coming weeks.
Even at the urinal, Michael Bisping cannot escape fight fans.
Michael Bisping gets caught by fans in the toilet #ufc #mma #michaelbisping #mmanews #mmatwitter pic.twitter.com/2dkNtm0eAR
— FNM_Fightchannel (@fnm_fc) December 21, 2022
Who was your favorite — or more interestingly, least favorite — referee of 2022?
These 5?? referees regulated the most UFC action in 2022.@mma_kings‘ story: https://t.co/47a0Ee41TB pic.twitter.com/Dj36ksGc9U
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) December 21, 2022
This is called, “extreme trust in one’s athlete.”
Just another day at the office. pic.twitter.com/aauwoWP6r4
— Beyond Kickboxing (@Beyond_Kick) December 19, 2022
Given his current five-fight UFC win streak, Andre Muniz deserves to fight up the rankings. However, a scrap with Brendan Allen sounds awesome, so it’s hard to be upset.
Andre Muniz will fight Brendan Allen at #UFCVegas70 on February 25th. (first rep. @AgFight) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2023 pic.twitter.com/f5urD2VfPj
— Marcel Dorff (@BigMarcel24) December 17, 2022
Li Jingliang has the moves.
Slips, rips, and KO clips
It’s been a long time since I heard the name Jumabieke Tuerxun, which makes sense since apparently it was changed since his UFC stint in 2014.
Awesome sequence leading to the KO from UFC veteran Tursun Jumabek (formerly known as Tuerxun Jumabieke before he moved to Kazakhstan) at Octagon 38 #Octagon #MMA #Octagon38 pic.twitter.com/zhIuNli8V4
— Chris Presnell (@mmaecosystem) December 21, 2022
We’ve all seen this knockout already, but watch it again. It’s hard to argue there’s been a more perfect sequence in MMA this year.
Bas Rutten submitting his opponent with a neck crank from within the crucifix is incredible.
Random Land
The acceleration is a bit touchy.
Midnight Music: Punk rock, 1977
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.