Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Even among the highly athletic and dedicated ranks of the UFC’s elite at 170 lbs., Kamaru Usman stands out. “The Nigerian Nightmare” has definite skill on the feet and on the canvas, but it’s always been his physicality that separates him from the pack. Usman has immense physical strength and can still push one hell of a pace, which makes him a brutal match up for most of the division.
It’s also raised some eyebrows regarding potential use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). Naturally, Colby Covington added some fuel to that fire by labeling Usman the “CEO of EPO,” the banned substance that notably cost TJ Dillashaw his Bantamweight title. Of course, public speculation is not confirmation of fault, and Usman has earned his USADA jacket for over 50 clean drug tests.
While on The Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show, Usman addressed the accusations. First, he revealed a major source of the claims, the YouTube channel MorePlatesMoreDates, which first posted a video speculating about Usman’s alleged usage.
“Of course, people accuse me all the time, and I never really told my story,” Usman began (via MMA News). “So one day I kept seeing people tagging me in this video. It’s some f—king guy, some dumbass that is on YouTube that swears he can spot people on PEDs. So they point to marks on my stomach. I have five scars on my stomach. You know, like burn discoloration on my stomach. So they took that and came up with this whole theory about it. It kind of hurt my feelings.”
How did Usman get the scars on his stomach if they’re not injection sites? Per the recently dethroned champion, wrestling resulted in moles on his stomach. When he failed to stop wrestling as a doctor advised, the moles were ripped off his stomach and left scarring. One last time, Usman denied the accusations and claimed his physique and success were the results of effort, not drugs.
“So then guy is like ‘Oh, He’s doing PEDs’. Look, he’s got marks on his stomach, and he hurt my feelings. I’m like one of those guys, I don’t even think about PEDs because of my work. I probably have dealt with someone who is cheating or fought someone who is cheating, but my work exceeds all of that. So when I see idiots online, I’m like, have you been to Africa? There are a lot of Francis Ngannou‘s walking around.”
Insomnia
If you make weight and don’t refuel with a croissant, why fight in Paris?
After getting his knee destroyed inside a round and having to go back under the knife at 36 years of age, Liam Harrison plans to fight again four months from now. The man is built different!
Georges St. Pierre inside the Octagon again — pretty cool!
Lyoto Machida and his pops have rhythm.
Paulo Costa reveals (well, not really) the source of his power and general “Chad” nature.
Hasbulla and Alexander Volkanovski are now officially best friends.
Iminari roll into an ankle pick? Sweet!
Slips, rips, and KO clips
I’m pretty sure Temirov got knocked out like four different times in this clip alone … rough.
He really reached out with his kick, and it landed perfectly.
Man was trying his best to run away from exactly what happened, and I don’t blame him. Also, cage side cameras are the best.
Random Land
Seems like there’s a ton of potential for things to go wrong with wheelbarrow based stunts.
Midnight Music: I dug this (relatively) recent release from Buffalo, NY rapper Conway the Machine.
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.