Photo by Josh Hedges/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 glory of spinning sh*t (besides the Nick Diaz quote, which is forever etched into the hive mind of the MMA world) is that it really emphasis the high risk, high reward nature of combat sports. A well-executed spinning maneuver can end the fight in an instant — view the video above for about a dozen excellent examples — whereas a mistimed spinning strike can run the attacking fighter into a counter shot. In the case of Chris Weidman, a sloppy spin kick saw him give up a counter takedown that effectively ended his title reign.
Somehow, the video misses arguably the most famous spinning strike in UFC history: Edson Barboza’s destruction of Terry Etim. Regardless, it’s a fun trip down memory road, and I’m forced to ask for more spinning violence (unrestricted to the Octagon) in the comments below!
Insomnia
I hate to say it, but it’s tough to see Karolina Kowalkiewicz return from this injury and her recent losses. Brutal.
The fact that Darren Till used the credit card company logo as his symbol for visa issues makes this much funnier.
Anthony Johnson competing in Sumo is both awesome and one of the more unlikely events of the year.
Thanks “Black Beast.”
This has to be the lamest excuse in the long history of lame excuses. Sure, walking around in a 45 pound suit might be a bit tiring, but how long did Wilder have to recover after taking it off, getting checked out by the officials, stepping into the ring, and the long introduction? Plenty of time.
Former Bantamweight champ vs. coconut tree.
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Who gets knocked out? The guy with giant traps or the dude keeping his chin worryingly exposed in front of his body?
That’s one way to kick off a fight card Nasty KO to start the #ShamrockFC328 party at @AmeristarKC on @FiteTV @GIFsZP
WATCH ?? https://t.co/m2nHs59yU2 pic.twitter.com/klqMyCD3tH
— Shamrock FC (@Shamrock_FC) February 23, 2020
On topic finish of the night: throwing consecutive spinning and flying blows to score a knockout is the height of cool.
Karim Benelia first hits the spinning-elbow to knock down Seagames, then finishes him off with a beautiful flying knee in the first round. pic.twitter.com/JbZ5Rh9M8s
— Beyond Kickboxing (@Beyond_Kick) February 23, 2020
Sergei Kharitonov might have the nastiest uppercut in Heavyweight history. It wasn’t ultra prominent in this win, but before I even clicked on the clip, I knew it would make an appearance.
Sergei Kharitonov KO’s Fernando Rodrigues Jr. in the 2nd. And NEW #WTKF pic.twitter.com/eARAadtV0K
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) February 23, 2020
Random Land
Don’t yell at me about Bernie and Bloomberg (I’ll ignore it), but I found the visualization interesting.
This TikTok has a really good visual representation of a million versus a billion dollars, which is especially relevant now that people are trying to compare Bernie’s $2.5 million to Bloomberg’s $64 billion pic.twitter.com/oX8GUpe2Iq
— bees are cool and nice (@Leila__007) February 23, 2020
Midnight Music: My Discover Weekly was strong this week and gave me a few solid options for tonight’s pick.
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.