Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Podcast kingpin and comedian Joe Rogan has served as one of the primary color commentators for UFC for close to two decades now. However, Rogan is a busy man, splitting his time between Spotify controversies, hunting trips, and lots of COVID-19 drama. Ever since WME purchased the UFC, his presence on the mic has been felt less and less.
Fortunately for Rogan fans, he’s set to return to his color commentary role this weekend at UFC 268 per a report from MMA Junkie. Rogan hasn’t been cage side since UFC 264 back in July, the site of his now-infamous canvas interview with Conor McGregor. This time around, Rogan will be supported by the color commentary of Daniel Cormier and play-by-play from Jon Anik.
The details on the rest of the production were revealed as well. After a battle with COVID-19 saw him sidelined from last weekend’s pay-per-view (PPV) event, Bruce Buffer will also make his return as the voice of the Octagon. In addition, Megan Olivi will be on deck for pre- and post-fight interviews as the roving reporter. Finally, former title challengers Chael Sonnen and Anthony Smith will serve as desk analysts alongside host Michael Eaves.
UFC 268 will go down this Saturday (Nov. 6, 2021) from inside Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The event will be headlined by a Welterweight title rematch between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington, while the co-main event features a Strawweight title rematch between Rose Namajunas and Weili Zhang.
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LIVE! Watch UFC 268 PPV On ESPN+ Here!
CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLEHEADER! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to the world famous Madison Square Garden in New York City with a compelling pair of world championship rematches on Sat., Nov. 6, 2021. Headlining UFC 268’s blockbuster pay-per-view (PPV) will be Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman as he looks to defend his title once again against arch enemy and No. 1-ranked contender, Colby Covington. The co-main event will see UFC women’s Strawweight queenpin, Rose Najamunas, aim to make it two in a row against former champion and No. 1-seeded contender, Zhang Weili.
Insomnia
Outside of Dana White and Khamzat Chimaev himself, I refuse to believe anyone actually wants to see Nate Diaz vs. “Borz.”
Shamil Abdurakhimov seems to have found his position as the ranked Heavyweight to test hot up-and-comers.
Per UFC officials, UFC is finalizing a heavyweight fight between Tom Aspinall and Shamil Abudrakhimov for March 19. Aspinall is 4-0 in UFC, ranked No. 11. Abudrakhimov is 5-4 in the UFC, ranked No. 8.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) November 2, 2021
Just another super weird McGregor tweet.
Recent Ultimate Fighter (TUF) champ Ricky Turcios is a ninja!
Here’s an interesting look at the future stars of fighting, at least fame-wise.
Does anyone else feel like Jimmie Rivera is too good at MMA to move to bare knuckle? It’s still a shame that he was released.
Kamaru Usman’s knockout of Jorge Masvidal has to be one of the hardest single punches in UFC history (respective to weight class/size etc). What a shot!
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Rose Namajunas has been a killer for years, and I’d rate her boxing nowadays as the best in women’s MMA.
One of the best kickboxers on the planet crossed into the cage yesterday, and he did so in style.
The Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Browne special:
Random Land
The amount of work that goes into a clip like this horrifies me.
Midnight Music: Let It Be by The Replacements is a pretty great album.
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.