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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Light Heavyweight gold is on the line at UFC 313.

In the main event, feared knockout artist Alex Pereira will seek to defend his crown a fourth time opposite Combat Sambo ace Magomed Ankalaev. Ankalaev is almost uniquely well-rounded amongst the 205-pound contenders, a veteran with savvy counter striking and hellacious ground-and-pound. Ahead of their long-awaited title clash, Ankalaev has implied on several occasions that he’ll be looking to knock out the former Glory Kickboxing champion.

Former UFC Middleweight champion Robert Whittaker believes that’s a terrible strategy. “The Reaper” was at one point in the discussion as a possible “Poatan” opponent back in the Brazilian’s Middleweight days, so he’s plenty familiar with Pereira’s strengths and weaknesses.

His advice? Wrestle. Right away. Waste absolutely no time before wrestling!

“If I’m coaching Ankalaev, I want him dropping to both knees and shooting from across the cage,” Whittaker said on his “MMArcade” podcast (via MMAJunkie). “I want him like, army crawling to Pereira’s ankles. We’re blanketing him for 25 minutes. We need to slow him down, or we need to get him to a position where he’s uncomfortable. We need to start making threat levels elsewhere.

“Because you see every standup fight Pereira is in, every single one of them, even when he’s hurt, even when he’s getting hit like when he was with Rountree — he’s just comfortable there. He will stay there. He’ll be there till the crowds leave. Like he’s so comfortable and confident in that position, in that dynamic of fighting, that it’s silly to fight him there.”

Despite seeing an opening for Ankalaev on the mat, Whittaker later concluded with a Pereira prediction.

He explained, “I’m going to go Pereira. Like I said, if Ankalaev doesn’t drop levels with him in the first 3 minutes, I don’t think he makes it out of the first round. I don’t want to be striking with that guy, period. He hits like a truck.”

Ankalaev’s strategy in the first five minutes will be very interesting. The most notable example of him opting to stand rather than wrestle to his own detriment came against Jan Blachowicz, who kicked apart Ankalaev’s lead leg in the first three rounds and had him limping badly. The Russian talent was still able to force some takedowns late and even the scores, but perhaps if he moved with that game plan from the first bell, he would’ve walked away with UFC gold rather than a draw.

Think Ankalaev learned his lesson or will he live up to his promise of testing Pereira’s chin?

Insomnia

Poatan or Merab Dvalishvili, who’s the current UFC side quest king?

Nate Diaz hanging out with a group of the real housewives … who would have guessed?

Prime Bas Rutten was a scary man. Am I wrong in feeling like the average fight fan forgets/underrates “El Guapo?”

I would happily watch any of these BKFC match ups. What’s next for Jeremy Stephens?

Jean Silva would appear to be lining up an opponent in the event he defeats Bryce Mitchell. I like the vision …

Controversy aside, I do think Manel Kape is perhaps the most interesting challenger available for Alexandre Pantoja right now.

Justin Gaethje with some perspective:

By the time this season of Russian TUF is finished, Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling will have spent more minutes fighting than Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

I love the idea of Edson Barboza being tagged anytime there’s a wheel kick around the globe.

Huge lands off a caught kick are some of the coolest moments.

Impressive to move from the failed guillotine DIRECTLY into heavy ground strikes.

Random Land

This level of preparation would genuinely drive me insane.

Midnight Music: Blues, 1967

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

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Jalin Turner is ready to show off his new and improved grappling.

After a nearly a year layoff, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) No. 13 ranked Turner returns to action at UFC 313 this weekend (Sat., March 8, 2025) against surging Chilen Ignacio Bahamondes from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“The Tarantula” has been out of action since losing to Renato Moicano at UFC 300, but it’s been for a good reason: to work on his grappling even more, which kind of got exposed in his fight against Moicano.

Turner almost scored a walk-off first-round knockout against Moicano at UFC 300, but when Moicano survived and the fight entered the second round, Turner was taken down by Moicano, did not get back up, and eventually finished (watch highlights).

The 29-year-old’s grappling has never been bad, as evidenced by his four submission wins and countless high-quality scrambles, but at UFC 300, he got into a place where he got uncomfortable, and Turner does not want that ever to happen again.

“Grappling was a personal journey. It has nothing to do with this matchup or anything like that; it was just me wanting to be a better martial artist,” Turner told UFC.com. “Taking into account how my fight at UFC 300 went, I felt like I needed to stay more disciplined and polished in my grappling. It was something I really needed to focus on and work on. That’s what I did the last 11 months.”

Turner takes on Bahamondes in the ‘Featured’ bout of the UFC 313 main card.

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 313 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN2/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 313: “Pereira vs. Ankalaev” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.

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OUCH!

It has been three days since UFC Vegas 103, where Top 15 ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Flyweight Asu Almabayev was stopped by top contender Manel Kape via technical knockout (TKO) from inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada (watch highlights).

While Kape looked absolutely amazing in his stoppage win, the victory was barred with controversy. “Starboy” scrapped Almabayev’s eye a few seconds before the stoppage, and the referee completely missed it.

Today (Tues., March 4, 2025), a picture of Almbayev’s eye has surfaced, and the damage is very visible.

Check out his eye post UFC Vegas 103 below:

For the second straight week, a UFC main event was plagued by the dreaded eye poke. UFC Seattle’s main event loser, Henry Cejudo, could not continue after Song Yadong logged his finger into “Triple C’s” eye socket.

Still pissed off by the result of his fight, Cejudo posted on social media immediately after UFC Vegas 103 by writing, “Eye pokes are the greatest threat to the growth of this sport (unbiased).”

Unfortunately, eye pokes have not gone away in the 32 years that UFC has existed, and it looks like they will stay forever…unless referees actually enforce the penalties for eye pokes.

For what it’s worth, Almabayev (21-3) had his 17-fight win streak snapped this past weekend.

To checkout UFC’s upcoming schedule of events click here.

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Jones walked out on an interview with the UFC’s UK broadcast partner after recognizing the interviewer from videos with Tom Aspinall

The champ is here! Wait, the champ is gone!

Jon Jones has been generating a ton of headlines over the past few days as he discusses his potential fighting future. He’s suggested fighting Alex Pereira for the BMF belt, relinquishing the heavyweight title so he doesn’t have to fight No. 1 contenders, and taking ‘fun fights’ against Jamahal Hill and Derrick Lewis.

As for interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, who’s been left twisting in the wind for the past year? He’s the one guy Jones will absolutely positively not fight because he and his fans are ‘assholes.’ If “Bones” decides to expand on that, he’ll only do it with a pro-Jones media outlet because he isn’t going to talk to Aspinall-associated people.

Video from UFC’s UK broadcast partner TNT Sports shows Jon arriving to do an interview and then walking out once he recognized who would be asking the questions.

“Hey, I’m not gonna do this interview,” he said as he left. “You know, because it’s going to be an Aspinall-fest. I’m not going to do it. Come on, let’s go.”

“Hey bro, nothing personal,” Jones said later to Adam Catterall, the interviewer he ditched. “I see how close you guys are. Common sense tells me what type of questions I’m going to get asked.”

“You’re entitled to,” Catterall replied. “Speak to who you want to.”

Catterall co-hosts a show with Aspinall on TNT Sports called Fight Lab. Eventually, Jones would sit down with a more neutral TNT Sports presenter, Nick Peet.

Some fans have suggested Jones’ anti-Aspinall campaign has all been part of a meticulous promotional scheme to build up a fight between the two. We want to assure you that this is not what’s going on. Jones is at a point in his career where he’s done fighting ‘the next guy.’ He wants to fight who he wants to fight. Unfortunately for us fans, his interest gets real low when presented with a stylistic challenge who’s favored to beat him.

No one likes a sandbagger. It’s why we hate Jake Paul. It’s why Canelo Alvarez got piled on for fighting Edgar Berlanga in his last fight. It’s why even a Jones vs. Pereira superfight would be overshadowed by the specter of Aspinall. Because when you’re the best, people want to see you fighting the best. Anything else is rightfully perceived as a waste of time.

Jon Jones clearly doesn’t want to hear that.

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A standout from CJI is going from beating Luke Rockhold to a blue belt jiu-jitsu tournament.

Pat Downey, a champion wrestler that transitioned to Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ), has almost exclusively faced big names in his grappling career. That’s about to change though, as his next jiu-jitsu tournament is already lined up.

Downey is going from facing black belt superstars like Nick Rodriguez, Gordon Ryan and Luke Rockhold, to random blue belts and hobbyists next.

Pat Downey Goes From Beating Luke Rockhold in CJI to IBJJF Blue Belts

As the US Open wrestling champion announced, he has signed up to compete at the 2024 IBJJF No Gi World Championships this December.

“I am upgrading,” Downey wrote as he goes from one stripe white belt after dominating Rockhold, to now competing at a colored belt division. “Best blue belt on (earth)!”

To calm a collective amount of older blue belt hobbyists and dads that were planning on flying to Las Vegas, Downey said he won’t be competing at the Masters division (age 30 and up).

“(I’m joining) Adult blue belt division. I’m not here to hurt old men like Jake Paul does lmfao,” the 32-year-old Downey wrote.

Many people naturally still criticized him for “sandbagging” and taking on beginners, but Downey has since defended his entry.

“Ed Ruth, one of the best NCAA wrestler EVER lost at this tournament multiple times as blue belt stfu,” Downey commented in response.

Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen via Imagn Content Services, LLC

IBJJF has outdated rules on belts and competitions

While the criticisms are valid, IBJJF is also partly to blame for situations like this. Even with Downey’s wrestling accolades and experience as a professional grappler, blue belt is the highest division he can compete in for IBJJF events.

The long running BJJ institution has a rule that grapplers need to spend a minimum time as a blue belt before they can compete at purple belt. Winning blue belt world championships like this one, would allow Downey to bypass that rule and compete as a purple belt earlier.

Downey of course wouldn’t be immune to sandbagging criticisms at purple belt either. So if he really just wanted more grappling experience, he could easily just join the various non-IBJJF events and ADCC opens as a professional.

As he was just starting his jiu-jitsu career, the NCAA Division I All-American beat BJJ star Nicky Rod in wrestling, then went 1-1 with Gordon Ryan in a predictable mixed rules exhibition. In 2020, he handily beat Ryan in seconds during the wrestling portion, before losing the no-time limit, submission-only ruleset that followed.

In 2024, under a full submission grappling ruleset, Downey most recently dominated former UFC champ Luke Rockhold at the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) event.

Downey has since signed with Polaris to continue his pro grappling career. Ryan and Downey also recently agreed to another weird mixed rules match next, which may or may not happen.

For the latest Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) and grappling-related news click here.

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Pump the breaks.

Middleweight super prospect Bo Nickal will return to action at UFC 309 this weekend (Sat., Nov. 16, 2024) for his fourth Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fight against his biggest opponent to date, Paul Craig, inside Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Every single time Nickal fights, Khamzat Chimaev is mentioned as a future opponent, and today (Wed., Nov. 13, 2024) at UFC 309 media day was no different.

“It’s definitely getting closer,” Nickal told reporters when asked if a fight with Chimaev is becoming a real possibility. “Khamzat’s last performance was really incredible; it was probably the best he’s had. Submitting a former champion is an incredible feat. He’s definitely right there for a title shot…I have a lot of catching up to do. I’m fighting unranked guys right now. So, those are the types of fights I want in the future, but the main focus is to improve, develop, and get better at fighting. We’ll make that fight happen in time.”

Two years ago, the three-time NCAA Division I national champion from Penn State said he was “ready to go with Chimaev,” so it’s very refreshing to hear a fighter with as much hype as Nickal give props to a potential future opponent while also realizing he has a lot of things to work on before said fight.

Even though he might get beat up by “Borz.”

Nevertheless, before Nickal fights Chimaev in the Las Vegas Raiders Allegiant Stadium in front of 100,000 people, he must get through “Bear Jew,” who believes it will be a “bad idea” if Nickal takes him down.

We will see in T-minus three days.

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 309 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET (simulcast on ESPNews at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 309: “Jones vs. Miocic” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.

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Celebrity pugilist Jake Paul collides with former WBC heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in a professionally sanctioned boxing match on Friday night (Nov. 15, 2024) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. In the Netflix-streamed co-main event, undisputed super lightweight champion Katie Taylor rematches unified featherweight titleholder Amanda Serrano.

All four combatants will take the stage on Weds. afternoon (Nov. 13) for the “Paul vs. Tyson” final press conference, streaming LIVE at 7 p.m. ET in the embedded video above. In addition, pre-fight face offs will be conducted at the conclusion of today’s presser in “The Lone Star State.” Don’t expect “El Gallo” to get a warm welcome from fight fans.

“It’s crazy to think that in my second pro fight, I went viral for knocking out Nate Robinson on Mike Tyson’s undercards,” Paul said in a recent press release. “Now, less than four years later, I’m stepping up to face Tyson myself to see if I have what it takes to beat one of boxing’s most notorious fighters and biggest icon.”

“My sights are set on becoming a world champion,” Paul continued. “Now I have a chance to prove myself against the greatest heavyweight champion ever, the baddest man on the planet and the most dangerous boxer of all time.”

For the finalized “Paul vs. Tyson” fight card and Netflix lineup click here.

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Chandler sees UFC 309 as an opportunity to avenge a loss to Oliveira and take one step closer to his dream of becoming UFC champion.

Michael Chandler is coming into UFC 309 on November 16th prepared to fulfill his destiny and earn himself a lightweight title shot with a win over Charles Oliveira.

“Iron Mike” has been out of action for the last two years waiting for a match-up with Conor McGregor to materialize. It never did. Most fighters would say “It is what it is,” which is code for “Yeah, this sucks but what are you gonna do about it?” Not Chandler. He believes it is what it was meant to be.

“This fight against Charles Oliveira, this is the way it was supposed to be,” he told TNT Sports in a new interview. “This is how the story was supposed to be written. We didn’t know it was gonna be written this way. We had other plans, there were other things that were supposed to happen, could’ve happened, should’ve happened. But this is how it’s gonna happen.”

“The guy who shattered my dreams of becoming the number one lightweight in the world, Charles Oliveira — I get to right that wrong,” he continued. “All the pressure’s on him. There’s no pressure on me. I’m gonna go out there and get my hand raised … This is my greatest moment of opportunity. And on Saturday night, I stick my claim as the number one contender in the lightweight division.”

Chandler is still ranked at No. 7 while Oliveira is up at No. 2. Based on the questionable way rankings work, he could steal the two spot from “Do Bronx” with a win in Madison Square Garden and be in a good position to challenge for the lightweight title.

“Dana has already called it the number one contender fight, the title eliminator,” Chandler claimed before laying out how he sees 2025 going.

“I believe Islam beats Arman. I think Islam will be the champion after that fight whenever whenever it is. He’s already fought a couple of the guys in the division. He wants new blood. He wants a new challenge. I believe he would love the opportunity to compete against me. I would love the opportunity to compete against him. So there’s a clear path.”

As we learned from Dustin Poirier’s surprising UFC 302 title shot against Makhachev, sometimes you just gotta be the guy that’s ready on the date the UFC needs filling. Add in a win over Oliveira, and Chandler is definitely on the short list of people in consideration.

“I win on Saturday night, I become the highest ranked guy not named Arman or Islam,” Chandler said. “I become the No. 1 contender. I submit myself as the next in line for the title. I will leave the Octagon at MSG on Saturday night the next guy in line for the title. And there’s nothing that can stop that.”

“Who’s gonna complain? I’m gonna be dominant on Saturday night and finally it will come to fruition. I’m gonna win the win the UFC title. And it’s the way it was supposed to be.”

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

UFC Heavyweight champion Jon Jones is the talk of the town this week, but it’s really not because he’s returning after the better part of two years to defend his title against Stipe Miocic. There’s almost no discussion around that fight despite its status as the main event of UFC 309, which takes place in the famed Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.

Instead, the conversation continues to revolve around Jones and interim kingpin Tom Aspinall. Aspinall’s rise to stardom and championship gold has come at a perfect time to pose an intriguing challenge to the all-time great “Bones,” but Jones has consistently remarked that he isn’t interested. According to Jones, Aspinall is too new and doesn’t do anything for his resume.

Former Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who not that long ago was the top-ranked pound-for-pound fighter on the roster, disagrees. “The Great” knows a thing or two about chasing double champion status, and he believes that Jones simply has to face Aspinall if he’s to be a “proper double champion.”

“If you want to be a Heavyweight champion, you want to claim that crown,” Volkanovski said of Jones on his YouTube channel. “It’s going to be hard to convince me you’re defending champ if you don’t fight Tom Aspinall while he’s the interim champ. Does Jon Jones even need to do this? No. He’s already got an incredible legacy. But if you want to claim the Heavyweight division, say you were a proper double champ — you gotta fight Tom Aspinall!”

“ … If you want that on your resume saying that I’m the best Heavyweight while i was there, you have to fight Tom Aspinall. I think he’s definitely the biggest threat, the wrestling, he can dangerous everywhere, and he’s a legit Heavyweight.”

Volkanovski also explained that he understands why Jones would want to fight a major star in Alex Pereira but thinks dropping the Heavyweight belt would be necessary to do so. All told, it’s going to be very interesting to see whether or not Jon Jones’ career continues beyond Saturday night and what lies in his future.

Insomnia

Bringing back the old gloves for a Jones event is the most unintentionally hilarious thing UFC has ever done.

Just a few guys being dudes.

Wild times on the Russian regional scene! Anecdote of the week: I did once watch a fighter get arrested immediately after his fight at Gladiator Challenge in Northern California. He won via KO in 22 seconds!

No easy fights for Edson Barboza — Steve Garcia has been on a tear!

Dana White casually winning more money than most of his champions will make this year:

A tricky technique from the great Craig Jones!

Fighting Rodtang for $ 8k is ROUGH!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Absolutely frantic hand-fighting and a great turn at the end.

Khabib cousins grow on trees, have cool names, and win fights like nobody’s business.

Former One Championship Flyweight king Adriano Moraes is back in the win column.

Random Land

What would you do in this situation?

Midnight Music: Soul, 2020

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

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“Iron” wants to break his curse.

Michael Chandler makes his long-awaited Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) return to competition after unsuccessfully waiting for Conor McGregor as he takes on Charles Oliveira this weekend (Sat., Nov. 16, 2024) at UFC 309 from inside the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Chandler last competed inside MSG in a losing effort against Dustin Poirier and looks to right the wrong in the legendary building – in fact, he is 0-3 at MSG.

“Iron” lost to Brent Primus when he was with Bellator, the only time Bellator visited “The Garden.” Then Chandler lost to Justin Gaethje in his second UFC fight, which ended up being Fight of the Year, and, a year later, lost to Poirier.

Some might call it a curse—just like Derrick Lewis constantly losing in his home state of Texas or Chris Weidman losing in New York three times. But it’s not necessarily a curse for Chandler; rather, it’s a storyline.

“I’m defeated at MSG, 0-3,” Chandler told Ariel Helwani. “I actually just ran into a guy who had been to all three of my fights at MSG, and he’s like, ‘Hey dude, we gotta break the MSG curse.’ But I also look at this like another layer where I’m like, of course, this is how it’s supposed to be: to fight the guy who has already beat you, who also shattered your dreams to fight at the arena who has also shattered your dreams every single time. I’ve never won inside there, and now it’s time to right that wrong.”

Is Chandler superstitious about fighting in an arena where he’s lost so much?

“No, not even a little bit,” Chandler said. “I asked for this card. We wanted to fight in October but I need to do a serious legit weigh cut. I had been preparing my mind and body for 170 lbs for the last year and a half, and now I only have 10 weeks in order to get down to 155 for October. It wasn’t going to happen; it was too soon, so I wanted MSG, and we got it.”

With a win inside Madison Square Garden, Chandler believes he will snatch Oliveria’s No. 2 ranking, forcing Lightweight champion Islam Makhachev to fight him in 2025.

Good luck breaking the curse, Mike.

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 309 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET (simulcast on ESPNews at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 309: “Jones vs. Miocic” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.

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