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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

The BMF belt is an enigma.

Acronym aside, it doesn’t really mean anything. Winning the BMF belt does not equate to being the best fighter in the division. There’s a promise of excitement, certainly, but even a few “Fight of the Year” performances on the resume cannot guarantee a BMF title shot. Largely, that opportunity comes down to when the UFC needs to add some flair to a pay-per-view (PPV) event.

Despite the unclear criteria, nobody is arguing Justin Gaethje as undeserving. He’s an all-timer in terms of excitement, and Gaethje has consistently been a Top Five Lightweight for many years now. Head kicking Dustin Poirier officially earned him the somewhat unofficial strap, but years of ground work got him there. Gaethje will bring his BMF belt to UFC 300 and put it on the line against Max Holloway, a former undisputed champion looking for new challenges, undoubtedly deserving in his own right.

It’s a great fight that adds to the UFC 300 card, BMF belt or not. Gaethje is not, however, the first BMF belt holder. That honor belongs to Jorge Masvidal, who battered Nate Diaz in 2019 to drape that silver title across his waist. Though “Gamebred” officially retired last year, he’s now hunting to unify the BMF belts after UFC changed the concept from a one-off to a defended crown.

“When I won the belt, Dana said it would be one of one, the belt is done, and there would be no defending it,” Masvidal told Lowkick MMA (via MMAJunkie). “So there never was any talk about it, at least for me, but now I think the temperature on that theme has changed. They’re doing things a little different, and Justin is very good.

“The guy that he beat to get that belt is a f*cking stud, he’s a killer, Dustin Poirier. But if you put BMF against BMF, if you put me against Gaethje in there, I would break his f—king eye orbital, and I would f—king chop him up. Hopefully that can happen at some point.”

At the moment, it feels really unlikely. Gaethje still has undisputed title aspirations at Lightweight, and defeating Max Holloway could earn him that shot. Holloway, meanwhile, once again has a path to Featherweight gold now that Alexander Volkanovski is no longer champion, so a big win on the biggest card of the year could also prime him for a title fight.

UFC 300 isn’t scheduled until April 13, however. If Holloway were to suffer an injury between now and then, there are few more high-profile replacement options than “Gamebred.”

Crazier things have happened.

Insomnia

Most performance coaches and sports therapists worth their salt will emphasize the importance of being process-oriented rather than outcome-oriented. Topuria’s mindset below is a great example!

The MMA meme community is ruthless.

It’s quite cool to see all the Mexican talent assembled in one place. I expect an exciting night in Mexico City!

Michael Chandler has to stay active somehow while continuing not to fight Conor McGregor.

Core conditioning!

Merab Dvalishvili cracked his head diving into ice and is still jumping head-first into a four-foot deep Las Vegas pool, sharking his way between grinding couples.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

It’s incredible how many left hooks/left uppercuts Berchelt absorbed before hitting the canvas.

Brandon Moreno still looks quite young for 30, but his “Assassin Baby” nickname was especially appropriate back in the day!

This fight ranks highly as one of the best boxing matches in MMA history. Great momentum shifts and differing strategies!

Random Land

This surf clip took an unexpected turn.

Midnight Music: A current trend on Twitter is to rank your Top 10 Bob Dylan songs. I want to participate but hate tweeting, so this feels like my best option.

1. Visions of Johanna
2. Up To Me
3. Like A Rolling Stone
4. Idiot Wind
5. To Ramona
6. Positively 4th Street
7. Ballad of a Thin Man (Live At The ABC Theater, May 1966)
8. Abandoned Love
9. It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
10. Most of the Time

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

MMAmania.com – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Anderson Silva might need to clear some space in the family trophy case soon.

The UFC legend’s son Gabriel Silva returns to the boxing ring on March 23 at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., where he fights Misfits Boxing light heavyweight champion Anthony Taylor in the evening’s co-main event.

Taylor and Silva had a heated in-ring confrontation this past November after Silva scored a decision win over OJ Rosé, which sewed the seeds for their upcoming matchup.

See the announcement and video of their tense encounter below.

Both fighters enter the bout on win streaks, with Silva 2-0 in Misfits Boxing including wins over Rosé and combat sports media member Ben Davis, and Taylor having scored back-to-back decision victories over “King Kenny” and “Salt Papi.”

Misfits Boxing 13 is also set to feature a 2-on-1 boxing match between Fox the G against two opponents in the main event, Nikki Hru fighting Alexia Grace for a lightweight belt, a pair of lightweight tournament bouts between Joey Knight and Baby Hulk, and Yuddy Gang and Lil CraCra, and several other influencer boxers in action.

The March 23 event airs live on DAZN.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Despite their long and storied rivalry, Alex Pereira would be happy to train with Israel Adesanya.

The feud between ‘Poatan’ and ‘The Last Stylebender’ stretches far beyond their time inside the Octagon. First meeting under the GLORY Kickboxing banner, Pereira scored back-to-back wins over the two-time middleweight champion, including a brutal third-round KO at Glory of Heroes 15 in March 2017.

Adesanya promptly moved on to MMA, earning a couple of first-round finishes on the Australian regional scene before making his UFC debut in 2018. Pereria would follow in his former foes’ footsteps, making his first Octagon appearance three years later.

Under the UFC banner, Pereira and Adesanya engaged in a memorable rivalry, splitting highlight-reel knockouts in their two meetings, though it was the ‘Stylebender’ who had the last laugh.

With Pereira sitting atop the light heavyweight throne and Adesanya eyeing a long-awaited clash with reigning middleweight king Dricus Du Plessis, their historic series appears to be over. Speaking with Ariel Helwani on Wednesday’s episode of The MMA Hour, ‘Poatan’ looked back on his time competing with Adesanya and even opened the door to the two fighters potentially work with one another in the gym.

“Anything can happen, but at this point, I think that it’s over even to a point that we could both train together if it comes down to that,” Pereira said through a translator. “If that ever happens, Israel is a very experienced guy. I am a very experienced guy. We have similar styles of high-level striking, but we have different aspects of the game that one could add to the other. But if it comes down to us fighting, it will be good, but it’s not something I’m holding onto anymore.”

He added, “I don’t feel like we’ll fight again. If I somehow felt that we were going to fight again, then no. But if I could be absolutely sure that we would never face each other in the Octagon again, why not?”

Alex Pereira already trains with another former opponent

It wouldn’t be the first time Alex Pereira has teamed up with a former opponent. After scoring a first-round knockout against Sean Strickland at UFC 276, ‘Poatan’ welcomed the opportunity to train with ‘Tarzan’ ahead of Strickland’s own title opportunity against Adesanya.

“Sean Strickland for example is a good friend now,” Pereira noted. “Once it’s over in the ring, you’ve got to let it go because you can add [something] to your game.

Immediately following Saturday’s UFC 298 pay-per-view in Anaheim, Dana White revealed that Alex Pereira will headline UFC 300, putting his 205-pound crown on the line against former titleholder Jamahal Hill. It will be Pereira’s first defense of the belt following his UFC 295 victory over Jiri Prochazka in November.

LowKickMMA.com

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Johnny Eblen is living it up outside of the cage.

The Bellator middleweight champion made headlines twice over the past couple weeks for reasons unrelated to his upcoming bout with PFL light heavyweight champion Impa Kasanganay, who he faces at the PFL vs. Bellator event this Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

In one instance, Eblen raised eyebrows when it was reported that he spent $ 85,000 on a shopping spree with OnlyFans model Jessenia Rebecca. Then, this past weekend, Eblen was caught on camera nearly getting physical with a prankster after being set up by manager Brian Butler.

Eblen was asked about the two stories during an appearance on The MMA Hour on Wednesday and he did his best to play coy.

“I’ve just been balling a little bit lately,” Eblen said when asked about his shopping habits. “I can’t talk too much about it, it’s fight week, I’ve got to focus on the fight. I’m a man, I’m a professional, I’ve got to focus on the fight.”

Pressed on the $ 85,000 figure, Eblen didn’t confirm nor deny, saying, “That’s what they said.”

Eblen’s love life generated further gossip when Bellator later released a clip of the champion frolicking with a different woman. The sudden attention on his choice of companions has Eblen chuckling in response.

“There’s a few girls fighting for my attention,” Eblen said. “They’re battling for it. It’s great to be the king and I’m going to continue to be the king, but we’ve got to focus on the fight. I’ve got to win, that’s the thing. You’ve got to stay the champ, you’ve got to keep winning, or they’re all going to just leave. Got to keep winning.”

“Just shenanigans,” Eblen continued. “It’s the shenanigans I get into. You get me out there, out in the free world, I’m bound to do something.”

Those shenanigans don’t just involve Eblen flaunting his bank account either. Eblen almost had to show off the skills that have made him an undefeated fighter when he was recently confronted by a stranger at a Home Depot.

Fortunately, Eblen quickly came to the realization that it was his manager Butler playing a prank on him, but the fighter says that the situation could have gone down a lot differently.

“[Butler] got me so good,” Eblen said. “I had no clue, I was just shopping, trying to get this hose. My dog uses a shower, we like to shower outside. We were at the Home Depot and I was looking around and all of a sudden this guy is just standing in front of me talking and he had a mask on, I’m like, ‘What is this mask?’ it’s like the Apple Vision Pro or something like that? And then I saw a camera behind him, I was like, ‘This guy’s probably trying to film funny content, he’s probably trying to do something.’ But I didn’t know him, I had no clue who he was. I just happened to be a part of it somehow.

“So I was like, alright, he was kind of talking s***, whatever, he kept egging me on, kept egging me on, and I was leaving and then he said something smart about my girl. Then I was like, ‘Bro,’ that’s when I flipped the switch and started walking him down. He was like, ‘Brian sent me.’ I was like, ‘Brian who? Brian who?’ He’s like, ‘Sucker Punch [Entertainment].’ I was about to give him a three-piece and f****** knock him out in the middle of Home Depot. Yeah, Brian, he f****** got me good.”

As Eblen recalls, it was the woman who was with him that not only set up the prank alongside Butler, but also made sure there were plenty of cameras to record it. He admitted that he was so heated from the confrontation that he was actually “sweating” after, and though he could laugh it off, he was 100 percent ready to throw hands.

Just how close was Eblen to punching the prankster?

“Very close,” Eblen said. “The fact that I walked away and he told me to come back after he continued to disrespect me and my girl, I was like walking him down like, ‘OK, I’m going to throw punches.’ That’s when he said, ‘Brian sent me,’ and I was like, ‘Brian who?’ My brain wasn’t, like, ‘Why are you telling me Brian?’ Then he said ‘Sucker Punch,’ and I was like, ‘Oh s***, yeah, I can’t punch this fool, he’s pulling a prank for my friend.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The Mixed Martial Arts Hour is back in your life! Below is a rundown of Wednesday’s show, which begins at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. UK time.

1 p.m. ET: Intro

1:05 p.m.: Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall join the show with a virtual face-to-face to preview their April 27 rematch.

1:30 p.m.: All your questions answered in the latest edition of On The Nose.

2 p.m.: UFC Mexico City headliner Brandon Royval previews his rematch with Brandon Moreno.

2:20 p.m.: Bellator middleweight champ Johnny Eblen breaks down his PFL vs. Bellator fight against Impa Kasanganay.

2:40 p.m.: UFC middleweight Anthony Hernandez reflects on his UFC 298 win over Roman Kopylov.

3 p.m.: More On The Nose.

3:30 p.m.: UFC star Michael Chandler joins us to talk about his recent WWE appearance and the latest in his saga with Conor McGregor.

4 p.m.: UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira joins us in studio to talk about his UFC 300 main event against Jamahal Hill.

5 p.m.: Parlay Boys talk best bets for UFC Mexico City and more.

For the latest episodes of The MMA Hour, subscribe on Spotify or iTunes.

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