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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Sean Strickland is almost exactly 24 hours away from his UFC 302 co-main event slot versus Paulo Costa, a highly-anticipated Middleweight match up that could earn the victor a title shot. It’s a hugely important fight for Strickland, one that could set him up for massive rematches against Dricus Du Plessis or Israel Adesanya.

Despite the vital upcoming match up, Strickland has time for various beefs this week. He’s already taken UFC to task for crappy paychecks and a botched glove revamp, as well as verbally attacked a robot for complimenting Conor McGregor’s attractiveness. When comedian Jon-Bernard Kairouz brought up Belal Muhammad — who’s been actively trashing Strickland in recent weeks — the former Middleweight champion didn’t hold back.

“Such a f—king little bitch bro,” Strickland said of Muhammad. “Every time I see this motherf—ker in person, I’m always like ‘Hey, Belal Muhammad, you f—king Miaman, wherever the f—k you’re from, let’s handle this s—t!’ He puts his head down and goes away, and little f—king twiddle thumbs gets on the twiddler and starts talking shit.

“Listen dude: go to f—king Palestine. Go f—king fight for your f—king country. Get the f—k out of here, you f—king can.”

As for how Muhammad fares in his upcoming title bout versus Leon Edwards? “I think Leon is going to f—king starch him!”

This feud has been going on for years now, and unfortunately, there’s no reconciliation or fight booking in sight. Both men are right in the title mix of their prospective divisions, but until Muhammad jumps to 185-pounds or Strickland cuts back down to Welterweight, it seems like to remain a social media scrap.

… Or maybe they collide at the UFC PI?

Insomnia

Ponzinibbio vs. Salikhov is such good matchmaking. Veteran Welterweight strikers collide!

Jiri Prochazka spent time training with Shaolin monks! The former Light Heavyweight king has been on a lot of interesting side quests lately.

This is quite a random mix of UFC stars taking on the bumper car track.

So, uhh, UFC’s latest sponsor sounds like a bunch of nonsense.

A compilation of Dustin Poirier’s attempts at the guillotine! It really only goes wrong when he jumps guard.

A light spar between Middleweight champions:

The WWE and UFC synergy thing is really happening.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Angled the knee right under the armpit and hit the chin perfectly.

This high kick was thrown at the perfect height, just over the shoulder and at the top of the head.

This ringside footage of a brutal clinch attack is downright gnarly.

Random Land

A fancy peacock.

Midnight Music: Hip-hop, 1998

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

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

MMA Fighting has Deontay Wilder vs. Zhilei Zhang live round-by-round updates for Saturday’s boxing 5v5 showdown at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The main event is expected to begin around 6 p.m. ET on DAZN pay-per-view. Check out our Wilder vs. Zhang results page to find out what happened on the undercard.

Wilder (43-3-1) is one of the most feared power-punchers of his era. A former WBC heavyweight champion, “The Bronze Bomber” finished a staggering 42 of his 43 professional wins via knockout, but has fallen on hard times as of late. Wilder has lost three of his past four contests dating back to 2020, sandwiching a knockout of Robert Helenius between two losses to Tyson Fury and one to Joseph Parker. Another setback on Saturday and the 38-year-old Alabama native may finally call it a career for good.

Zhang (26-2-1) is the heavyweight division’s ageless wonder. An Olympic silver medalist, the 41-year-old Chinese fighter captured the WBO interim heavyweight title with a pair of wins over Joe Joyce in 2023, but ultimately dropped it in a majority decision loss to Parker this past March. Zhang’s only other blemish of his professional career came in a 2022 decision loss to Filip Hrgovic. He will carry a whopping 68.2 pound advantage over Wilder into the fight.

Get the Wilder vs. Zhang round-by-round live blog below:

Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

Round 4:

Round 5:

Round 6:

Round 7:

Round 8:

Round 9:

Round 10:

Round 11:

Round 12:

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In Conor McGregor’s house, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

On Saturday, June 29, the Irish megastar will return to the Octagon for the first time in nearly three years when he squares off with former Bellator champion Michael Chandler in the UFC 303 headliner.

McGregor, of course, is inarguably the biggest name in mixed martial arts history, becoming the first fighter to hold two UFC titles simultaneously and subsequently pushing the sport into previously uncharted territory — not to mention being responsible for eight of the 10 highest-grossing pay-per-views in promotional history.

Recently, the MMA icon and proud father shared a video of his son, Conor McGregor Jr., earning his first stripe in BJJ.

“My son @conormcgregorjr getting the first stripe on his jiu jitsu belt at @sbgireland and the @ufc are already here with their team and big cameras on a scouting mission haha,” McGregor wrote on Instagram.

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A post shared by Conor McGregor Official (@thenotoriousmma)

Conor Jr. was the first of the Irishman’s four children with longtime fiancee Dee Devlin, having been born in 2017. Two years later they welcomed their daughter Croía followed by Rian in 2021 and Mack in 2023.

During an appearance on RTÉ’s The Late Late Show following the birth of Conor Jr., ‘Mystic Mac’ said: “I’m very proud and very blessed every day because the birth of my son has made me softer where I need to soften up. I’m overcome with joy and love. I never thought I would be that way.”

Perhaps we’ll one day see Conor McGregor Jr. step inside the Octagon and continue the legacy of his legendary father.

Conor McGregor Will go face-to-face with Michael Chandler at Dublin’s 3Arena

Before McGregor goes toe-to-toe with Michael Chandler during this year’s International Fight Week in Las Vegas, he’ll go face-to-face with his opponent inside Dublin’s iconic 3Arena on Monday, June 3 for a pre-fight press conference.

McGregor has only fought once inside the 3Arena — earning a first-round finish against Diego Brandao in 2013. However, it was the site of the infamous press event ahead of his history-making clash with Jose Aldo.

LowKickMMA.com

Newark, New Jersey hosts Saturday’s UFC 302 pay-per-view event.  The Prudential Center hosts Saturday’s event headlined by a lightweight title bout.  

Before the championship fight, former middleweight titleholder Sean Strickland and former title challenger Paulo Costa will clash in the co-main event.  

Strickland is coming off a split decision loss to Dricus Du Plessis in his last fight and needs a win to remain the top contender in the division. Costa is also coming off a loss. He was defeated by former champion Robert Whittaker in his last outing. The Brazilian has lost three of his last four fights and needs a win to stay relevant in the weight class. 

UFC 302 Ceremonial Weigh-in Video: Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

MMA Fighting has UFC 302 results for the Makhachev vs. Poirier fight card, live blogs of the entire main card, and more from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Saturday night.

In the main event, UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev will put his belt on the line against Dustin Poirier. Makhachev has won 13 straight fights, while Poirier has won three of his past contests.

Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland will look to bounce back after losing the title when he faces Paulo Costa in the co-main event.

Check out the UFC 302 results below.

Main Card (ESPN+ PPV at 10 p.m. ET)

Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier

Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa

Kevin Holland vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk

Niko Price vs. Alex Morono

Randy Brown vs. Elizeu Zaleski

Preliminary Card (ESPN2/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET)

Cesar Almeida vs. Roman Kopylov

Jailton Almeida vs. Alexandr Romanov

Grant Dawson vs. Joe Solecki

Phil Rowe vs. Jake Matthews

Early Preliminary Card (ESPN2/ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET)

Mickey Gall vs. Bassil Hafez

Ailin Perez vs. Joselyne Edwards

Mitch Raposo vs. Andre Lima

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Dustin Poirier’s likely last chance to capture undisputed UFC gold is finally upon us. Will he actually finish his story against pound-for-pound No. 1 Islam Makhachev at UFC 302?

Join Shaun Al-Shatti, Jed Meshew, Alexander K. Lee, and E. Casey Leydon as we preview UFC 302, Makhachev vs. Poirier, Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa, and more. Where would a Poirier upset rank among MMA’s all-time feel-good moments and how would Poirier’s legacy within the lightweight pantheon change if he pulls off the improbable? What’s at stake for Makhachev, who can tie the UFC’s all-time mark for consecutive lightweight title defenses with a win? Ahead of Saturday night, we dive deep into every angle of UFC 302’s featured bouts, make picks and predictions, answer fan questions, and much more.

Catch the UFC 302 preview show above. An audio-only version of the show can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

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