Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Colby Covington, in classic “Chaos” style, lives to cause problems. It is unlikely that Covington and Dustin Poirier will ever meet in the cage — the former team mates are at different weight classes, and each man is involved in his own title hunt — but that does not prevent Covington from taking every opportunity to pester “The Diamond.”
Earlier today, Covington released a clip of Poirier dropping a sparring partner in the gym. Covington did his best to not-so-subtly imply that Poirier was a bad guy beating up unprepared sparring partners, and so Poirier has gone online to clear the air.
First and foremost, that’s no amateur in the clip. That’s Felipe Douglas, who holds a professional record of 18-5.
In addition, Poirier spoke to UFC Arabia’s Farah Hannoun to further explain the situation. “I didn’t want people to think that was an amateur kid or something like that,” Poirier said (via MMAJunkie). “That was a professional fighter. I mean, that’s what happens in gyms during hard sparring, real sparring. There’s times when you drill, and train, and stuff like that, but there’s times where you hard spar and that was a hard sparring session.”
For the most part, fans and fighters online dismissed Covington’s attempted GOTCHA! moment. Still, it was wise of Poirier to refute the allegations, lest he develop an unfairly negative reputation as a gym bully.
Insomnia
Well … sorry for posting extremist propaganda last night? Who knew a bunch of Russian dudes beating the bejeezus out of each other in a mass brawl was an attempted display of supremacy? That’s about the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.
“Dana White, one of us”
Neo nazis are celebrating after UFC president Dana White posted a series of videos on Instagram stories of a mass fight set up by Russian white nationalists to mark Russia’s independence.
This is extremist propaganda pic.twitter.com/s22ignBEWb
— Karim Zidan | كريم زيدان (@ZidanSports) July 6, 2021
Manny Pacquiao and Freddy Roach — forever a classic combo!
Kevin Holland will return vs. Kyle Daukaus, who is very much a solid test for Holland’s (hopefully improved) wrestling.
Now here’s some unexpected news: John Hathaway, one of England’s best young prospects circa 2009, is expecting to return to the Octagon after a seven year layoff!
Knight fights remains the absolute coolest, craziest thing that’s tangibly related to MMA.
In other words: Conor McGregor must astral travel back to 2016.
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Consistently targeting the same spot with different weapons:
David vs. Goliath, Sumo edition!
Good stuff from the only 2 recruits this time, both w/ sumo background. Itō (L) vs Raihō, who’s already received a shikona from mentor Hakuhō. Reference to R’s electric moves surely, but surely a nod to 1700s Raiden, possibly most dominant rikishi in history before Hak himself. pic.twitter.com/7nu9SmbGUL
— Sumo Soul 相撲魂 (@TheSumoSoul) July 6, 2021
A right hand direct to the temple produces a nearly slow motion knockdown!
Random Land
A bold catch:
Midnight Music: Keep it positive, y’all!
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.