Bringing you the weird and the wild from the world of MMA ...
Welcome to Midnight Mania, where Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is creating belts out of thin air right and left, regardless of who deserves them. That’s right, Maniacs. In case you haven’t heard, Dana White’s comments that UFC was creating a women’s Featherweight division with or without Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino were, indeed, factual.
BREAKING! @HollyHolm & @IronLadyMMA to compete for the inaugural women's 145lb belt at #UFC208! https://t.co/K7ipM0TL4V pic.twitter.com/ZqAgaNJFFS
— UFC (@ufc) December 14, 2016
Yeah, that’s right.
Two thoughts: First of all, this is a solid fight. A former boxing champion against a former kickboxing champion is a great stylistic match. Germaine de Randamie and Holly Holm will get after it. Second, this is a back-handed slap to Cyborg’s face. She is the reigning Invicta FC 145-pound champion, the best female Featherweight of all time, and possibly the best (certainly the most terrifying) female mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter on the planet (save possibly Joanna Jedrzejczyk). Holm is on a two-fight losing skid and de Randamie lost to reigning Bantamweight queenpin Amanda Nunes two fights ago. Yet, these two ladies — both of whom were offered separate opportunities to fight Cyborg for the first-ever Featherweight title — are being given a shot at the new belt. Meanwhile, Cyborg — the best in-class, who nearly died just to step inside the Octagon ... twice — is left out the in the cold. She is understandably pissed.
Just 2 months ago there was no girls at 145 to fight. Now they have a girl who's 0-2 fighting for the belt just to disrespect me.
— Cris Cyborg (@criscyborg) December 14, 2016
When you don't have legit rankings you get 1-5 vs 10-0 for a belt. And you get people like me waiting for a division now on the outside
— Cris Cyborg (@criscyborg) December 14, 2016
Yeah, Cyborg, we feel you. Most of my timeline was reacting the same way:
Holly Holm vs. Germaine De Randamie announced for the inaugural UFC Women's Featherweight Championship pic.twitter.com/IH6JvcILtP
— Michael Hutchinson (@TheMikeyHutch) December 14, 2016
Presumably, this has to do with Cyborg’s refusal (more like inability) to fight on eight weeks notice after her last brutal weight cut to a Catchweight of 140 pounds left her blood so thick nurses were allegedly unable to draw it. She also cited depression as a reason she wasn’t going to be ready to fight so soon. On the flip side, UFC needs headliners for UFC 208, which takes place inside Barclays Center in New York, N.Y., and it needs them badly. Jose Aldo and Max Holloway may yet fill the pay-per-view (PPV) main event slot, but they aren’t exactly the biggest draws for the company. In the absence of Conor McGregor -- and with billions in debt to finance — every draw is needed to bolster every event at every chance. And Holm (the main name value in this match up thanks in large part to her destruction of Ronda Rousey) draws from a different demographic than the aforementioned male Featherweight fighters, which makes her a potential perfect co-main event foil to the second-ever card in “The Big Apple.” Cyborg’s reaction was still completely understandable:
The worst part is I fought for the division. I didn't turn down I title fight I asked for a march date. 10 years no division and no respect
— Cris Cyborg (@criscyborg) December 14, 2016
In the end, this will probably end up a net positive for Cyborg. Her weight class is now established in UFC, meaning she will be able to fight for the title shortly after UFC 208, possibly being promoted as the Invicta FC Featherweight champion for the “Champion vs. Champion” angle UFC has used in the past with Pride FC and Strikeforce.
But, for now? The sting of this will run deep. Ironically, it comes the same day she became a U.S. citizen:
Today I became a Brazilian American, a symbol of all the hard work and opportunities I've received since moving to the USA 8 years ago. pic.twitter.com/pLa82P4eTE
— Cris Cyborg (@criscyborg) December 13, 2016
True observations about how UFC has been making and stripping Featherweight belts in arbitrary fashion lately:
UFC Featherweight Champions:
Aldo
Holloway
McGregor
Cyborg
Holly Holm/GDR
— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) December 14, 2016
McGregor was stripped of the fW title but never stripped of the interim fW title he won against Chadwick Mendes. Conor is true interim champ
— superCalo (@superCalo) December 13, 2016
Meanwhile, concerns about how UFC will populate this division remain.
Check fight matrix women's 145, they struggle to list 20 https://t.co/cgbypquKbZ
— Ben Askren (@Benaskren) December 14, 2016
Bas Rutten is funny ... always.
Bald is better. https://t.co/gL0RYwEe27
— Bas Rutten (@BasRuttenMMA) December 14, 2016
Okay, sometimes.
If you are a sucker for the idea of being able to watch any fight at any time (like me), you might want to check this out on UFC Fight Pass.
#XFO bouts + #KOTC Greatest KO's of 2015 just added to the Fight Library! #FPT
XFO > https://t.co/G0nJvPJyzT
KOTC > https://t.co/9uyFvQ3uo8 pic.twitter.com/U6mGnxHnzn
— UFC Fight Pass (@UFCFightPass) December 14, 2016
“Fight Motion” highlights have been released for UFC 206, which took place this past weekend (Sat., Dec. 10, 2016) in Toronto, Canada, and they are sweet, sweet slow motion visual caramel. Unsurprisingly, they feature a lot of Cub Swanson and “Korean Superboy,” which I can definitely live with after their “Fight of the Year” performance:
Speaking of people getting rocked, this kid came up from an illegal blow swinging hard at the referee. It’s kind of impressive that he is clearly too rocked to recognize the referee and can still wing those haymakers. Or, maybe he’s just too mad to care who he’s punching at. Good refereeing to calm him down, though. That’s the reason professional fighters ref these small events.
I had the honor of being one of the refs for Trench Warz 20 this past weekend. I had one of the best experiences as a ref and martial arts competitor with this fight in particular. These guys were getting after each other right off the bat. With all the adrenaline running an illegal kick was thrown to the down opponent as you see in the footage. Usually fighters cover their heads and pretend to be in antagonizing pain to sway a disqualification win. This fighter was totally opposite of that. He was GAME! He had the Chamorro Islander fighting spirit and had no giving up in him even after getting dazed. I just happened to be in front of him as he got back up! LOL. It was an amazing night of fights! Si Yu'us Maase @ifamiliaku_mass and the fighters for putting on an amazing show! Yamato Damashii in full effect! LONG LIVE THE ISLAND WARRIORS!
A video posted by Frank Camacho (@frankthecrank) on
Dec 10, 2016 at 4:04pm PST
Angela Hill is off UFC 207 ... for stupid reasons. I blame Brock Lesnar because, well, he made a bad-ass girl cry in a circuitous, cosmic sorta way.
Sorry guys, I know it was rumored I was fighting in Dec but it's not happening, here's why. pic.twitter.com/VOEyldLPLs
— Angela Hill (@AngieOverkill) December 13, 2016
Hill may no longer be fighting this month, but check out this feature on her and her video games ... just because.
And it looks like Alliance MMA really tries to mimic some of that fancy Dominick Cruz footwork in training:
Thanks to everyone for all the love and support . On a lighter note heres a fun vid of this mornings practice. #FightReady #AllianceMMA pic.twitter.com/7EJcf7BIQR
— Angela Hill (@AngieOverkill) December 14, 2016
Okay, this is hilarious, but also gets kinda sad by the end:
These two are much more competent, plus they even have a referee:
Naughty crow
Posted by Unexpected Entertainment on Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Did you see that Brazilian jiu-jitsu from that white cat? That was some good Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Khabib Nurmagomedov teased his next fight announcement via his Instagram.
Fight accepted, agreement signed. Waiting for opponent. Announcement soon. Я уже принял бой, ждём ответ другой стороны. Скоро все узнаете. #очкариктыгде #иншаАллагь #победа @nutrabolics @nutrabolicsrussia
A photo posted by Khabib Nurmagomedov (@khabib_nurmagomedov) on
Dec 13, 2016 at 2:39pm PST
Ferguson responded via Twitter:
I Agreed To Fight You, Now Need To Agree On Terms... Ball Is In Their Court. Sounds Like They Don't Want You To Lose Bud. https://t.co/F4cl96K5Mk
— Tony Ferguson (@TonyFergusonXT) December 14, 2016
I really want to see this fight. My only question is, what happens when McGregor finally returns and decides he would rather fight Nate Diaz for more money? That’s going to be awkward.
Miss this guy?
Dec13.2013
3 year ago today,@GeorgesStPierre announced that he would be taking an indefinite leave from the UFC pic.twitter.com/KfRhRYn55G
— MMA History Today (@MMAHistoryToday) December 13, 2016
What are the odds he fights this year?
Three years later, GSP has stated that he is ready to come back & fight
Do you think we will see GSP fight in an octagon in 2017?
— MMA History Today (@MMAHistoryToday) December 13, 2016
Here’s your random knockout of the day:
The ACB main event is Denis Goltsov vs. Salimgerey Rasulov. Goltsov is one of, if not THE best unsigned HW in MMA pic.twitter.com/BelY6TCseQ
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) December 13, 2016
I had two semester finals today, but at least this didn’t happen:
Rough day at the office. pic.twitter.com/7NOWFxdHyU
— MLW (@MLW) December 13, 2016
Former Bellator MMA Lightweight champion Will Brooks and I have something in common: We both cannot squat 405 pounds.
My mind thought I could do it but my body said no hahahaha. 405 squat attempt. #nexttime pic.twitter.com/i1lfJoIqAv
— Will Brooks (@ILLBoogieBrooks) December 13, 2016
Now that finals are out of the way, I’m finally going to finish Westworld’s first season:
It's Tuesday and that KO is still being herd around the world...herd, ya see cos...oh forget it! pic.twitter.com/Q2Fj7HRJs8
— #WHOATV (@WHOATV) December 13, 2016
UFC on FOX 22 in Sacramento, Calif., is coming up this weekend (Sat., Dec. 17, 2016) and honestly it’s going to be great. Sage and Paige get to shine together, like two blond protagonists in a UFC-themed fan fiction novel.
UFC missed a really easy @ThePowerRangers advertising opportunity for Saturday's card.#MMPR#UFCSacramento
(H/T @SecretMovesMMA) pic.twitter.com/0qeJIPX8yD
— McKinley Noble (@KenTheGreat1) December 13, 2016
Urijah Faber’s retirement fight is also featured, and the veteran matches up pretty favorably against fellow vet Brad Pickett, according to these stats:
At #UFCSacramento this weekend, @UrijahFaber will be the biggest betting favorite on the card.
Based on these metrics, we like his chances: pic.twitter.com/VB0DcgLbrn
— Fightnomics Reed (@Fightnomics) December 13, 2016
Podcasts and Audio
The Fist Fight Fan did a segment with Karim Zidan about Nurmagomedov, which is always interesting:
Jack Slack’s Fights Gone By:
And it’s unrelated, but the Fall of Rome podcast by MMA journalist and history Ph.D. Dr. Patrick Wyman is excellent. His latest is on the Huns.
Quick Hits:
Frank Shamrock thinks McGregor ought to walk away from the UFC like he did.
Speaking of fighter negotiations, Jon Jones is now on that bypass-Dana-White track and will deal directly with Ari Emmanuel.
Ronda Rousey apparently likes to walk around the house naked, according to Olympic teammate and Judo Gold medalist Kayla Harrison, so... yeah. Be free, girl.
Stay woke, Maniacs.
VorpalManiac@gmail.com. You know what to do.