Midnight Mania! ‘Rousey’ Vines, controversial UFC signing and ... moat fights!

Welcome to Midnight Mania! Today was the first day back at work for many of you.

Hope it didn’t catch you that off guard.

There is a lot of debate about who was the “Fighter of the Year” in 2016, but one of the guys in the running is certainly Heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. Mirko Cro Cop — RIZIN’S Grand Prix Winner — also had a great year, capping off what could possibly mark the end of his illustrious combat sports career.

Miocic is quite certain he already achieved “Fighter of the Year” ... and his logic is undeniable.

In honor of Cro Cop’s career, take a look at one of his amateur boxing bouts ... FROM TWO DECADES AGO:

I didn’t even know he had an amateur boxing career.

Meanwhile, Kron Gracie defeated formerly ranked Featherweight Tatsui Kawajiri in RIZIN last week, which means maybe his mixed martial arts (MMA) career is worth paying some attention to.

The whole fight can be seen below:

New UFC on-air talent, Todd Grisham, has been hired, and he’s undeniably a better choice than Jim Rome. However ...

... that is still disturbing.

Maybe this will cheer you up: Mackenzie Dern dancing!

She pulled off this incredible omoplata to rear naked choke transition in both Gi competition and MMA this year:

Truth:

Speaking of Garbrandt winning, it looks like Forrest Griffin had a haircut riding on this fight:

These are so incredibly wrong.

Perhaps this is the reason Rousey hates MMA media?

Just a hunch.

Todd Duffee vs Mark Godbeer has been announced. First, Godbeer might be the best name for a UFC Heavyweight ... ever. Second, this crazy slugfest is what Duffee will be coming back from:

Demi Lovato broke up with Luke Rockhold, according to reports, and is now with the guy on the right in the video below (a Bellator MMA fighter).

Embattled former UFC fighter Cody East has been accused of kneeing his girlfriend in the face, among other abuse.

UFC has a long history of ignoring or downplaying consequences of these allegations against fighters. This next signing, however, is controversial for different reasons:

Talented guy ... with a shady history.

That’s concerning to say the least. Kadyrov is the Chechen leader who is heavily and controversially involved with MMA. He’s entertained Fabricio Werdum and also had his kids fight in a cage.

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Bobs and Weaves

Random fact o’ the day:

I do remember Garbrandt knocking out Brimage and thinking he looked like a less polished version of McGregor -- they had the same composure in the pocket, and similar clean boxing mechanics, generating that incredible knockout power.

Two words for the following clips: MOAT FIGHTS!

The rules include winning by forcing the opponent out into the moat.

Former UFC fighter Katsonori Kikuno has had tremendous success:

It’s just an incredibly fun concept:

Great artwork of UFC women’s Bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes:

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Quick Hits

• UFC 207 seems to have done very well -- almost certainly over one million pay-per-view (PPV) buys -- if FOX Sports 1’s “Prelims” ratings are any indication.
• John Lineker broke his jaw in the first round against T.J. Dillashaw by eating one of those headkicks.
• The Bellator 170 conference call, with Chael Sonnen and Tito Ortiz:

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Random Land

A Korean cross between Dr. Strange and Supa Hot Fire? I love it.

Stay woke, Maniacs.