Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight
Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Ladies and gentlemen, the Robbie Lawler sweepstakes has begun. After former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley withdrew from his rematch with Lawler at UFC on ESPN 3 this June in Minneapolis, Minnesota, due to a nagging hand injury, welterweight contenders of all shapes and sizes have offered to fill in against “Ruthless.”
First to speak up was former welterweight title challenger Darren Till, who made a case for a main event scrap with Lawler as long as the contest took place at 175 pounds. Having struggled with weight cuts in the past, Till’s request makes sense.
Yes @Ruthless_RL I’ll meet you at 175 in 6 weeks for a tear up
Yeno wa time it is— Darren Till (@darrentill2) May 17, 2019
However, that’s not how fellow welterweight contender Santiago Ponzinibbio sees it. Instead, “Gente Boa” believes Till is being a big brat in requesting a catchweight matchup with “Ruthless.” Ponzinibbio may have went a little hard in his explanation, but this is the fight game. All bets are off, verbally and physically.
Bruv, I’ll give you the bail money to come fight me in Uruguay (August 10) after I whoop @Ruthless_RL . You miss weight, back to back losses, knocked out in front of your own people and now you’re picking a new weight class? Spoiled brat.
— Santiago Ponzinibbio (@SPonzinibbioMMA) May 17, 2019
Adding to the Lawler sweepstakes were a few other welterweight hopefuls searching for their divisional break on big ESPN.
I know a guy on a 7-fight win streak. That’s down for the tear up gimme that fight @ufc @UFCEurope #StrapSeason
— Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards (@Leon_edwardsmma) May 17, 2019
I can meet him at 171.0 for a tear down https://t.co/Kdi33uH2Ng
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) May 17, 2019
Seven straight wins. My last three opponents didn’t last enough to get me a bonus, but I know Robbie will. @ufc @seanshelby @danawhite
— Elizeu Capoeira (@ElizeuCapoeira) May 17, 2019
I’m ready for June 22nd but with the utmost respect when asked who I wanted to fight next Lawler was my answer. So if he needs a fight I’m your huckleberry @ufc @seanshelby #respect #war #bambam pic.twitter.com/JUYX8ogh7w
— BRYAN BARBERENA (@bryan_barberena) May 17, 2019
@ufc I’m ready to take woodley spot. What a homecoming this would be!! @seanshelby @AliAbdelaziz00
— Anthony Rocco Martin (@TonyRoccoMartin) May 17, 2019
And, of course, the always entertaining Mike “Platinum” Perry had to throw his hat into the cage as well.
Everybody wanna see it and ain’t no 175 bih
— Platinum Mike Perry (@PlatinumPerry) May 17, 2019
Meanwhile, Amanda Nunes offered support for the injured Tyron Woodley.
I came from Brazil for the first time and had nobody here in America. My first fight for Strikeforce his family was the only ones I could hear from the crowd. We have been friends since that moment until today. 9 years later. Also…his beard smells good. parceiro @TWooodley pic.twitter.com/G75sxA39jv
— Amanda Nunes (@Amanda_Leoa) May 17, 2019
And then we have this…
T-Wood drops another pic.twitter.com/HGWVFOb3he
— Dave Madden (@DaveMMAdden) May 18, 2019
Insomnia
Newly crowned UFC interim champions Dustin Poirier and Israel Adesanya made a triumphant return home this week:
#UFC236 champions headed home this week:
@DustinPoirier received a key to Lafayette, Louisiana!
@Stylebender returned to his childhood school in Nigeria! pic.twitter.com/vp4egQcp7m
— UFC (@ufc) May 17, 2019
Is there anybody scarier than Deontay Wilder in boxing right now?
.@BronzeBomber said what he said. (via @maxkellerman on Boxing) pic.twitter.com/sxPHWcpLOM
— ESPN (@espn) May 17, 2019
Don’t look now but former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate is taking her business ventures to the next level:
Well! I’m headed to #NewYork in less than 24 hours! Excited to attend my first round of the #LeadersInSports business conference as my first trip back to the states since making the big move to #Singapore!! @ONEChampionship https://t.co/Z8yNPYO9O3
— Miesha Tate (@MieshaTate) May 18, 2019
UFC lightweight contender Tony Ferguson reminded us all to just keep smiling:
“Keep Smilin’ Kid” Champ Shit Only -XTA- Hometeam pic.twitter.com/XcE2FYUSOP
— Tony Ferguson (@TonyFergusonXT) May 17, 2019
This Thor-inspired reenactment of Douglas Lima’s knockout over Michael “Venom” Page is pretty epic:
This @rayrod747 creation of @PhenomLima wielding Thor’s Mjolnir to finish MVP is AMAZING!
: https://t.co/zAQHC925TA pic.twitter.com/L41hPRnIsE
— Luke Thomas (@lthomasnews) May 16, 2019
This grappling session between Angela Hill and Jessica Penne got real interesting:
Interesting armbar escape ya got there @jessicapenne Name this move! #PreStrawweight69 #PromNightWithJess pic.twitter.com/PDGrjqcJcR
— Angela Hill (@AngieOverkill) May 17, 2019
Slips, Rips, and ONE Clips
By the looks the this knockout, Sage Northcutt wasn’t so “Super” in his ONE Championship debut:
Cosmo Alexandre KOs Sage Northcutt in 29 seconds #EnterTheDragon pic.twitter.com/z0jKJE4BGi
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) May 17, 2019
The legendary Tito Ortiz offered the following insight into Northcutt’s debut gone wrong:
Don’t ever circle left on a right hand fighter! Stay away from the right hand circle right.
— Tito Ortiz (@titoortiz) May 18, 2019
The ONE Championship: ‘Enter The Dragon’ event also spit out the following action:
Garry Tonon moves to 5-0 in ONE Championship with a superb heel hook submission of Yoshiki Nakahara in the very first round! @Garry_Tonon #WeAreONE #EnterTheDragon #Singapore #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/271lA3EcKB
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) May 17, 2019
Jiu-Jitsu wizard Garry Tonon seemed pleased with the above heel-hook submission finish over Yoshiki Nakahara:
5-0! Garry Tonon is no longer a prospect in MMA. This is a resurrection! I’m bringing grappling back from the dead and to the forefront of mixed martial arts! Goal#1 Become the greatest Featherweight of all time, Goal#2 Become the greatest p4p mixed martial artist of all time.
— Garry Tonon (@Garry_Tonon) May 18, 2019
Back to the action…
Dutch phenom Regian Eersel outstrikes Nieky Holzken to win by unanimous decision and be crowned the first-ever ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Champion! #WeAreONE #EnterTheDragon #Singapore #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/3tt5HJBn2r
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) May 17, 2019
UNBELIEVABLE toughness from “The Warrior!” @ChristianLeeMMA #WeAreONE #EnterTheDragon #Singapore #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/iMrfUqfF12
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) May 17, 2019
Christian Lee STOPS Shinya Aoki in the second round to win the ONE Lightweight World Title! @ChristianLeeMMA #WeAreONE #EnterTheDragon #Singapore #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/4owXYgaSGh
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) May 17, 2019
A short right hand put this heavyweight boxer through the ropes:
Betcha that sound turned some heads.#BroadwayBoxing pic.twitter.com/CfCNXutaD3
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) May 18, 2019
Random Land
No superhero will ever top this:
Superhero films today are great and all, but are they as great as this? pic.twitter.com/rcGOfTeVuA
— Harris Dang (@FilmMomatic) May 17, 2019
Is this really the best choice for the next Batman?
Robert Pattinson to play “The Batman” for Matt Reeves and Warner Bros. (EXCLUSIVE) https://t.co/hgH5WlxD2H pic.twitter.com/AqXwTVmTzo
— Variety (@Variety) May 17, 2019
And last but not least, check out this intense collision on the ice:
EAT GLASS pic.twitter.com/nmN66xkIIo
— Feitelberg (@FeitsBarstool) May 18, 2019
Sleep well, Maniacs! A better tomorrow is always possible. Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @Vorpality