Midnight Mania! Why Didn’t People Watch Gaethje vs. Poirier?

Bringing you weird and wild from the worlds of MMA each and every weeknight Welcome to Midnight Mania!
The UFC’s Fox numbers are… not doing well. Despite excellent in-cage action, headlined by the all-time classic war Justin Gaethje and …

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

The UFC’s Fox numbers are… not doing well. Despite excellent in-cage action, headlined by the all-time classic war Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier put on for the fans, not that many fans watched. This isn’t down to Poirier or Gaethje, though: It’s part of a long slow decline in UFC on Fox viewership. With so many events, and so few mainstream stars, the numbers have been trending downward for quite some time now, as outlined by Jason Cruz of MMAPayout.com.

Bellator aren’t doing any better either, as their numbers also came in absolutely awful despite featuring their premiere lightweight mainstay, Michael Chandler, choking out Brandon Girtz in the main event. They have also seen their viewership decline steadily in 2018.

While divining the cause is a subject for a much longer article, one likely suspect are decisions the UFC has made to water down their brand by putting on so many events and simultaneously not investing a whole lot in putting over individual fighters. John Nash found an interesting econometric study that found the impact of stars on Pay-Per-View sales, which have also seen their floor trending downwards in recent years. The star power of the fighter mattered a lot more than the UFC name.

Insomnia

Mike Goldberg trying to do Michael Chandler’s workout was among the funniest things I saw today.

Rory MacDonald is down for some cross-promotional violence with KSW’s champions.

Santiago Ponzinibbio is the poster child for giving it all up in pursuit of doing what he loves, cage fighting.

UFC lightweight fighter Damien Brown makes a legitimate point.

Georges St. Pierre with one of three things that excite him in life (women, dinosaurs, and the violence of the Octagon.)

Alex Gustafsson with the compound bow.

Going live with @alexthemauler and he’s not fucking around! http://joerogan.live

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Francis Ngannou going back to the sand village where his roots are reminded me just how unusual and amazing his backstory really is.

I’ll be unpopular and say I can see Marvin Vettori’s position that he might have done more in the first round of his fight with Israel Adesanya.

Justin Gaethje remains an animal and I hope his remaining five UFC fights are all wins.

Amen, and amen.

And the congregation said AMEN #mma #ufc #ufcglendale #mmamemes #ufcmemes

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Julie Kedzie has a point. Gaethje and Poirier ought to be making millions of dollars for this. They should be set for life.

It’s far too soon for this volatile a matchup. I sense a trilogy incoming between Cody Garbrandt and TJ Dillashaw.

Sean O’Malley lighting one up in honor of the GOAT, Nathan Diaz.

spark that shit at least, @sugaseanmma #UFCGlendale

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Herb Dean, such a character.

Tony Ferguson’s leg looks even worse than Dustin Poirier’s.

Congrats to Mrs. Cowboy.

Mama Bear

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Al Iaquinta had another angle on all that McGregor vs. bus nonsense.

This picture and caption are both a work of art.

Even the Mona Lisa is falling apart.

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I wish I was this good at anything, but especially boxing.

Some wild Alex Oliveira facts.

Zabit Magomedsharipov and Sean O’Malley are a sparring session I want to be a fly on the wall for.

Derrick Lewis’ homie, the other Black Beast.

The Homie #theblackbeast

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The Other Dana White

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Cutting weight is unhealthy, and I know this… but I’m still mad they didn’t let Max Holloway fight Khabib.

Slips, Rips, KO Clips and such

Brad Tavares called out Michael Bisping after this win, but Bisping of course was having none of that.

Heavyweight MMA, where 265 pounds and your imagination are the only limits.

Dead, D E D dead.

Tenshin Nasukawa, remember the name.

Matt Brown would naturally appreciate this gem of a hellbow.

Some wacky stuff happens in long pants fighting.

Today in classroom fighting, timing the perfect takedown.

Today in street fights: How to take down a cop and doubtless get yourself arrested.

Don’t hold your breath

My big question is, when will Stipe Miocic put his fireman’s training into practice and hit this throw?

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Random Land

Super cool exercise to try at home. Eat your heart out, Israel Adesanya.

LOADED HIP MOBILITY WITH 100 and 320LB STONE…BUT LET’S GET THE JOKES OUT OF THE WAY!!! I should wait till humpday to post this but it’s too funny…”He’s humping/getting off on/screwing a rock!”…”He’s finally lost it!”…”That’s a whole new meaning to getting your rocks off!”…are we done? I’m sure we’re not. I’m sure there’s a hundred jokes that’ll be made over this video but I’m not afraid to look silly to teach you a legitimate training theory. And I hope you laughed! We don’t laugh enough!! Mobility under load is a whole other animal than simple Mobility. The stone was just an easy way to try it out and demonstrate it and it’s more comfortable and practical to do with a stone or sandbag than a barbell. In fact I tried it and it’s practically impossible to do with a barbell because of the length and the whip created by the shifting hip movements. If you’re paying attention and have stop spitting out your coffee and laughing you can see that I’m moving my hips side to side, undulating, circles, up and down, Figure 8 while under load and maintaining the tension at the top of two different hip Bridges. Stronger more mobile hips especially under load are healthier happier hips. And yes it actually will make you better at sex (happy strong hips equal better sex) but that’s another story I’ll tell soon… Someday I’ll tell you the story about when Noah said I was pole dancing for Confederate money… Make sure you laugh!!! And join #NoahsArmy and become a #blooddonor and #organdonor … And listen a guy crazy enough to hump a rock helping his wife run a charity…..it ain’t no normal charitable foundation… We’ll come hunt you down to make you do the right thing!!!! #funny #mobility #loadedmobilty #glutes #glutebridge #hipsdontlie #happyhips #stonelifting #stoplowerbackpain #bettersex #oldtimestrongman #strongman #yoga #chigong #tantric #brutalyoga

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In this episode of Black Mirror, the police are becoming frighteningly good at catching people who use drugs and putting them in jail.

You should read this amazing, forgotten story about the commercial seaplane that flew the other way around the world, from New Zealand to New York after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

Stay woke, Maniacs! Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @Vorpality