Welcome to Midnight Mania!
The UFC Lightweight title picture has certainly been shaken up by the Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor trilogy. After all, Poirier chose to chase the much, much larger paycheck of a McGregor fight rather than pursue the undisputed title. As a result, “The Diamond” is headlining UFC 264, while the Lightweight title already found a new home around the waist of Charles Oliveira, who pummeled Michael Chandler in one of the year’s best fights (HIGHLIGHTS).
At a certain point, those dividing paths among the Lightweight elites must realign. MMAFighting’s Guilherme Cruz reported that Oliveira will be in attendance at UFC 264, cage side for the pivotal Lightweight clash.
Alaelson Albuquerque, Charles Oliveira’s conditioning coach, passed away this past Friday. Albuquerque, 48, died of complications caused by COVID-19 (heart attack days after being hospitalized).
Oliveira will fly to Vegas on Thursday to be cageside for Poirier vs. McGregor 3. pic.twitter.com/TPtsbSACq8
— Guilherme Cruz (@guicruzzz) July 5, 2021
There really wasn’t a ton of doubt around the situation, but this largely confirms that Poirier vs. McGregor 3 is a title eliminator match up. Poirier is ranked as the top Lightweight contender and highly on the pound-for-pound chart, while McGregor is a former champion and the biggest draw in the sport — it’s not exactly rocket science to have the victor square off with “Do Bronx.”
Regardless of who’s victorious at UFC 264, Oliveira promises to knock him out.
Insomnia
McGregor fight week means lots of Conor content and stats. Safe to say, punching power is never in doubt with the Irishman!
The average UFC fighter has recorded 1 knockdown for every 48 minutes and 29 seconds in the octagon.
Conor McGregor has averaged 1 knockdown every 8 minutes, 16 seconds.
That’s the record for fastest rate in UFC history (min. 10 fights)#UFC264 @John_Kavanagh @TheNotoriousMMA
— MMA By The Numbers (@NumbersMMA) July 5, 2021
One of kickboxing’s finest works the heavy bag:
Click through if you’d like a (sad) laugh:
BREAKING: The UFC to Implement a Living Wage of $15 an Hour
Combat Hub investigative journalists have blown this story wide open https://t.co/36Vbo315R2
— The Combat Hub (@combathubreal) July 2, 2021
Here’s something of a mind trip: Mark Coleman’s daughters, who famously were in the ring with him post-Fedor brutalization, are adults and going to be fighting MMA soon.
The gnarliest warmup exercise in wrestling/MMA:
I’m enjoying Khabib Nurmagomedov’s journey into the world of coaching, but this video also illustrates another lesson that I’ve found to be universal in MMA gyms: good pushups are for S&C, while anything goes on the mats!
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Ronda Rousey’s boxing quickly became a meme following her knockout losses, but she could still hurt ladies with the right hand!
7 years ago at UFC 175 Ronda Rousey defeated Alexis Davis in 16 seconds to defend her bantamweight title. Love or hate Ronda she really changed the game for Women’s MMA
pic.twitter.com/AjsU0bNAqC— Jason Williams (@jasoneg33) July 5, 2021
Maybe one of the most aggressive sequences ever posted in this column:
Live by the sword …
Random Land
What in the Russia is going on here?
ロシア伝統のボクシング集団戦「ウォールオブウォール」。ロシアの殴り合い文化は13世紀から文献に登場し、時の王朝が度々禁止するもピョートル大帝ら貴族にも愛好家も多く、エカチェリーナ大帝の愛人として有名なオルロフ伯爵などは自身が喧嘩自慢で、権力誇示のため輩を招集してボコってた逸話が。 pic.twitter.com/M9oHn3rmon
— 岩井洋一(柔術新聞 速報版) (@busujiujitsu) July 3, 2021
Midnight Music: “Would you say we’d be venturing into a zone of danger?”
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.