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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

It’s been said before, but Ilia Topuria is not lacking for confidence.

The undefeated Featherweight champion is definitely riding high ahead of his first title defense opposite the resurgent Max Holloway, whom he promises to brutalize in short fashion. It’s a lot of tough talk, but can you blame the 27 year old when he’s largely lived up to his word and dominated everyone else so far?

Either way, Topuria’s ambitions are not limited to 145-pounds. Inside the Octagon, “El Matador” fought just once at Lightweight against Jai Herbert, suffering a bit of trouble before landing a tremendous knockout (watch it). Recently, Topuria responded to a fan question online and expressed interest in returning to Lightweight, targeting a match up with champion Islam Makhachev.

“The truth is that of course I do,” Topuria responded when asked if he thinks about fighting Makhachev. “He’s a great fighter. Sometimes he talks too much, sometimes not, but we can always resolve it in the Octagon. Not in the street because I’ll have to pay for his medical bills.”

All told, it’s pretty mild trash talk by Topuria standards. Makhachev’s team mate and undefeated Bellator Lightweight champion, Usman Nurmagomedov, was unimpressed however. He responded on an Instagram story, questioning “When did you ever fight on the street European boy?”

Topuria responded with questions of his own about Nurmagomedov’s murky 2023 drug test failure. He replied to Nurmagomedov’s question on X, writing “It has been a long time, to be honest. How are you doing with drugs? Are you still on steroids?”

As mentioned, Holloway is next up for Topuria, as the two are scheduled to throw down the upcoming UFC 308 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Oct. 26 in Abu Dhabi, UAE. If he’s victorious, top Featherweight contenders like Diego Lopes and Movsar Evloev are waiting for their first shot at UFC gold, and Topuria is also supposed to fight Alexander Volkanovski a second time. If and when he does jump back into the Lightweight waters though, Topuria will have plenty of options for opponents.

Insomnia

Conor McGregor doesn’t seem THAT upset about his return fight being continually delayed.

Oh yeah, we love veteran vs. veteran violence! It will be interesting to see how Damon Jackson fares back at 155 pounds as well.

Daniel Cormier is just asking to get kicked in the calf again.

It goes without saying, but … a master at his craft.

What kind of reality dating nonsense has Payton Talbott gotten himself into? I look forward to not watching but posting some clips in this column!

Hang it in the Louvre.

Merab vs. Umar Nurmagomedov is obviously next, but does the challenger really get to dictate when the fight takes place? Eh.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Classic Muay Thai on display.

Two minutes of Alex Pereira deleting people with his left hook!

A Capoeira kick that didn’t miss! Incredible.

Random Land

Never underestimate the power of a good feint.

Midnight Music: Post-rock, 1996

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

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Tecia Pennington doesn’t have a lot of love for MMA judges.

This Saturday, Pennington faces Carla Esparza on the undercard of UFC 307. The bout is the final of Esparza’s storied career but for Pennington it’s equally as important as “The Tiny Tornado” is currently on a two-fight losing streak, dropping split decisions to Mackenzie Dern and Tabatha Ricci, which have Pennington with her back against the wall.

“The split decisions have hurt me,” Pennington told reporters at UFC 307 Media Day. “It’s hurt more, the loss, than anything, getting punched or kicked by these girls or whatnot. I truly believed I won those last two fights.”

Pennington has been a fixture of the strawweight top-15 since entering the UFC of of The Ultimate Fighter in 2014. But despite notable wins over the likes of Angela Hill and Michelle Waterson-Gomez, “The Tiny Tornardo” has been unable to even earn a title shot. Now at 35 years old, time is running out for Pennington to make a title run, which she blames, in part, on the judging in her fights.

“I’m still getting at it. I feel like I’ve got one more good run in me,” Pennington said. “I feel like I can make it happen for myself too. I have the skill…

“Honestly, it’s the judges who keep f*cking me, if I’m being honest,” Pennington said. “I go back and I’m like, I don’t know who the judges were but do they go home and rewatch that fight and they’re like, ‘Man, I took away opportunity from this girl. I took away money from this girl. That sucks. I wish I could have done something different.’

“I kind of wish we had universal [open scoring] where they tell you the score after [each round] like Invicta does it. That would be awesome because then as an athlete, I know.”

Universal scoring has been a topic of discussion in MMA for years, with Invicta FC even implementing it on a trial basis in 2020. However, there’s been no major push for universal scoring to make it into the UFC and it won’t be in effect Saturday when Pennington faces off with Esparza. Fortunately for Pennington, she does not believe she’ll need it.

“I think she’s going to be the same old Carla,” Pennington said. “Same thing, coming in with some [punches], going for the takedown, try to catch my leg and take me down that way. I’m not saying she’s not going to take me down, she might. But I’ll get right back up, I’ll stuff a lot of her takedowns, I’ll use my movement. The key to her winning is holding me down, but I don’t see that happening. There’s not been a girl who has been able to do that. I’ve been able to get up and do what I want to do.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

PFL co-founder Donn Davis continues to claim that Kayla Harrison went to the UFC to avoid fights with Larissa Pacheco and Cris Cyborg.

After a past interview where Davis compared one of the PFL’s biggest stars in the history of the promotion to Kevin Durant, as opposed to a LeBron James, following Harrison’s departure for the UFC earlier this year, Davis doubled down on those comments when Din Thomas said he had some “choice words” when addressing the two-time Olympic champion.

“Choice words, I wouldn’t describe it,” Davis said on Sirius XM’s MMA Today. “We brought Kayla into MMA from the Olympics. Developed her into a [17-1] star, two-time champion, and one of the greatest women [fighters], top-five in the sport today. Nothing but pride for that, and nothing but respect for Kayla. As a competitor, to build the company, I want every great fighter here. I want every fighter here. … So I’m disappointed we couldn’t keep Kayla here for, what I think, are the two biggest fights of her legacy, [and] career — avenging Pacheco and winning the championship, and beating Cyborg, who’s the greatest ever.

“I think those are the two toughest fights ahead of Kayla. I don’t like that she ran from those. I don’t like that, and that she ran to a brand to validate herself. I think so highly of Kayla Harrison, she doesn’t need a brand to validate her. She’s that great. Some fighters need a brand to validate them. Some employees need a validation of a brand, some people need to wear clothes or jewelry to validate them. And other people are so strong that their actual actions and accomplishments validate themselves. That’s how highly I think of her, so that disappointed me.”

Harrison decimated former champion Holly Holm in her octagon debut at April’s UFC 300 event, and she faces Ketlen Vieira this Saturday at UFC 307 in Salt Lake City. The only MMA loss for Harrison came via decision to Pacheco at the PFL World Championships card in November 2022. Harrison had already defeated Pacheco twice before their trilogy fight.

Cyborg and Pacheco battle it out in their own matchup at the PFL’s PPV card on Oct. 19 in Saudi Arabia.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

It was a tale of two faceoffs to end the UFC 307 pre-fight press conference. Main event fighters staying stoic while the co-main event competitors could cut glass with the stares they were giving each other.

UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira showed no emotion as he came face-to-face with unlikely challenger Khalil Rountree Jr. on Thursday. Pereira looked as intimidating as ever, but he didn’t get too aggressive during the faceoff, while Rountree just kept looking ahead as he prepares for the biggest opportunity of his career.

That was vastly different from the co-main event where Raquel Pennington and Julianna Peña were staring holes through each other during a tense moment with matchmaker Sean Shelby keeping a close eye on things.

Nothing was said during the faceoff, but the look from each fighter was worth a thousand words.

For Pennington, the showdown serves as a culmination of a fight she’s wanted for the past 11 years after she counted Pena as one of her roommates on The Ultimate Fighter season 18. As for Pena, she hopes to reclaim the title she lost in her last appearance back in 2022 when she suffered a one-sided defeat to Amanda Nunes.

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Rematch
| BJPenn.com