Midnight Mania! Moreno Vs. Figueiredo Trilogy Booked For UFC 269

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Well, this is unexpected.

UFC Flyweight kingpin Brandon Moreno is one bout removed from toppling Deiveson Figueiredo to take his crown at UFC 263 in June 2021. Prior to that battle, the pair put on perhaps 2020’s finest battle, which ended as a draw and set up the rematch. Given the results alone, an immediate trilogy bout certainly makes a bit of sense.

However, the rematch was a master class courtesy of Moreno (HIGHLIGHTS!). He picked apart the knockout artist with his jabs and counter punches before taking him down and finishing the champion in the third. It was a ridiculously good performance from the Mexican champion, whereas Figueiredo seemed to be eyeing a move to Bantamweight after the definitive loss.

Instead, a report from ESPN MMA confirmed that Moreno and Figueiredo will face off a third time at UFC 269 on December 11.

Alexandre Pantoja seemed the obvious next choice. Considering his previous pair of wins over Moreno (admittedly, one being on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), the Brazilian had a great story leading to the trilogy bout. UFC seemed to be on board, promoting the bout after Pantoja’s recent victory opposite Brandon Royval.

However, the ESPN MMA account explained the reasoning in a comment, stating “UFC initially looked into booking Moreno against Pantoja, however Pantoja will not be ready to compete before the end of the year due to a knee injury.”

There you have it. Despite the odd circumstances, it’s still likely to be a great match up between the Flyweight finishers.

The Return Of Shameless Self-Promotion

Weight is made and fight is on! Let’s go!

Insomnia

Joseph Benavidez retired today, so I wanted to link my article detailing just how awesome a human being “Beefcake” is. Legend!

As it turns out, jiu-jitsu does in fact work in the streets.

Does Anderson Silva’s success in the ring elevate his overall legacy? Better question, does it make up for the tough ending to his MMA career?

Buakaw shows off his slingshot skills!

Khabib is not afraid to go against the grain when it comes to naming the best in the world.

Of all the people to volunteer to get kicked by, Anthony Pettis is not the guy.

Zhang Weili is getting further work in with Henry Cejudo ahead of her Rose Namajunas rematch.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

These knees along the fence definitely brought about the finish a few moments before Dias actually fell.

Man was looking for the triangle setup, but the end result was different!

Man shuffled directly into an overhand right:

Random Land

A sweet shot of an pangolin!

Midnight Music: The walkout song for tomorrow night (which kind of knocks of two birds with one stone re: Bowie and The Beatles):

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