Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Top-ranked Featherweight contender Brian Ortega is rumored to be in talks to fight high-flying finisher Yair Rodriguez, but “T-City” has a more immediate problem on his hands. After a run-in with local police, Ortega is stranded in Mexico without his license, meaning he’s unable to make it through the border and return to the states (h/t MMANews).
The full details of the incident are unclear, but Ortega posted on his Instagram story to explain a bit. He wrote, “B—ch ass corrupt cops wanted my money I told them f—k you so they took my license so I won’t be able to get back home.”
Brian Ortega told these corrupt cops in Mexico that wanted his money to fuck off, they took his license so now he won’t be able to leave. I hope the @ufc can help him out somehow. pic.twitter.com/cfxFGPKeJi
— Anthony Romero (@ARomeroXVII) March 16, 2022
Hopefully, Ortega has the resources and connections necessary to stay safe until his situation is resolved. UFC may be able to help, as the promotion has many connections and is constantly working on various visa and immigration issues.
Ortega was last in the Octagon in September 2021, losing a five-round war to current 145-pound kingpin Alexander Volkanovski. Currently, he’s ranked at No. 2 in the official Featherweight rankings.
Insomnia
If Sean O’Malley actually corners Petr Yan, it might just surpass all of Mike Perry’s lottery/girlfriend cornerman antics.
REVEALED: The secret training method Bryce Mitchell used to become a Top 10 Featherweight.
Remember how I said Sabina Mazo got cut? Scratch that …
✅ Fighter added: Sabina Mazo
— UFC Roster Watch (@UFCRosterWatch) March 17, 2022
MIDDLEWEIGHT VIOLENCE! Given Chidi Njokuani’s vicious UFC debut (HIGHLIGHTS) and Todorovic’s habit of leaving his chin high, the likelihood of a knockout seems high.
Weight cutting is a ton of fun and definitely not detrimental to athlete performance/health.
Who else is 100% down for Paulo Costa vs. Sean Strickland? That fight makes a whole lot of sense if Costa can get his weight down.
No sportsmanship for this rat
— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) March 17, 2022
Slips, rips, and KO clips
A classic Anderson Silva KO from the PRIDE FC archive:
Dan Hooker has a real knack for timing nasty power shots.
Trying to fulfill my spinning s—t quota for the week!
Random Land
Found a Random Land submission in the DMs, and yeah, this is appropriately beautiful/terrifying.
Midnight Music: I learned after Googling the track below that was voted the “official state rock song of Oklahoma” before various politicians shut that down. Neat!
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.