Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Earlier this week, UFC Featherweight kingpin Ilia Topuria shook up the division by revealing his plan to move up to 155-pounds. “El Matador” just recently established himself as the best 145-pounder in the world, having won and defended his belt in all-time great performances over Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway (watch here) just this year. There were still several top contenders for him to face that all would have been worthy, but it appears that Topuria just isn’t interested in cutting the weight anymore.
Whether the UFC convinces him to stick around at Featherweight remains to be seen, but for now, the rest of the division is trying to seize the opening. The most recent backup for the division’s title fight, Diego Lopes, was among the potential options for Topuria’s next title defense, and now he’s trying to book himself a different title fight.
Tagging former Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, Lopes wrote, “If Ilia is going to 155, let’s meet in the Octagon. You can pick the date and location.”
At the time of writing, Volkanovski has yet to respond to Lopes’ callout. “The Great” was slotted as Topuria’s next challenger prior to the Spaniard’s sudden announcement, so if the belt does become vacant, one would expect Volkanovski will be half of the fight. Lopes is shooting his shot, but undefeated Movsar Evloev — who defeated Lopes in 2023 — will likely be arguing his case soon as well.
Insomnia
On one hand, I understand Randy Brown’s frustration with Battle and the decision. Still, this phrasing doesn’t help his case.
Randy Brown shares his thoughts on Bryan Battle after their fight at UFC 310: “I think he’s a bum… I’m not impressed with his skillset at all. He’s got a lot of work to do.”
Muhammad Mokaev’s return to the regional scene has already gone awry.
Per Brave CF Press Release: Muhammad Mokaev needs a new opponent just three days before his promotional comeback fight at #BRAVECF91. That’s because Luthando Biko was forced to withdraw from their scheduled flyweight contest due to health issues.
Today is the day I learned UFC sponsor Manscaped is in the business of selling woke razors.
A lot of fight fans called for Joaquin Buckley’s Welterweight drop, but I don’t think many would’ve predicted he would immediately climb this high.
Newly booked veteran vs. prospect fight at Heavyweight:
An excellent Power Slap moment.
High-level Muay Thai sparring:
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Ryan Garcia’s left hook is an incredible weapon.
I’m not saying Ryan Garcia has the best hand speed ever because that would be a super lie, but that fighter is the only one I’ve ever seen throw a punch that couldn’t be seen by the naked eye… you literally can’t see this until you slow the video down.
A beautiful KO set up perfectly by a pivot.
Firing a head kick on the break of a clinch is always a good idea.
Random Land
Space photography.
Right now Jupiter is at its closest to Earth. To capture it, I took over 100,000 photos of it to try and get the perfect shot. Behold: Jupiter and the Galilean moon Io, captured with an 11″ telescope from my backyard. I’ll never get sick of this hobby.
Midnight Music: Pop, 1972
Sleep well, Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.
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