Midnight Mania! Watch Mackenzie Dern drop, choke out Mandy Polk at LFA 24

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Ace grappler Mackenzie Dern improved her fledgling MMA career to 4-0 at LFA 24 tonight. This time, though, she showed off improved striking, dropping Mandy Polk with a combination of punches before jumping on Polk’s back and finishing her off with a succinct rear-naked choke.

The fight was contested at flyweight, with Dern having missed the strawweight limit in her last fight out. The inclusion of a new female flyweight division in the UFC has opened up possibilities for female fighters who were either too big or too small for 115 and 135, respectively. Within the UFC roster, that number includes such diverse talent as Paige VanZant, Jessica Eye, Valentina Shevchenko, and Joanne Calderwood. Dern isn’t at the UFC level just yet, but her submission skills make her a threat for any flyweight on the mat:

Mackenzie Dern is an exciting prospect for two reasons: her ability to twist people into pretzels, and her beauty. Like it or not, for female fighters, attractiveness remains an important piece in the puzzle that is stardom. Now, she has added raw striking power to that mix. While she is no Joanna Jedrzejczyk just yet, power is at a premium at women’s flyweight, and that could be a valuable weapon to have in the arsenal moving forward. It is also a huge improvement from her last bout.

Former UFC fighter and Houston photographer Mike “the Truth” Jackson interviewed Mackenzie Dern before the bout:

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Insomnia

Don Frye shot his shot at Cat Zingano.

Holloway’s kid is adorable.

That’s an awesome fight. Jose Aldo vs. Ricardo Lamas is a gift to Jose Aldo, though. There are fighters out there for Aldo to fight that he hasn’t beaten handily already. Still, with Rafael Dos Anjos-Robbie Lawler headlining? That’s a superfight a couple years ago, and the winner is “guaranteed” a title shot. I look forward to December 16th.

Conor McGregor taunting Tony Ferguson ...

Looks familiar:

I’m down with just using this art on the fight posters if it means we get Ferguson-McGregor next

Woodley’s podcast with coach Din Thomas:

I know I was wondering:

Please, let this fight not end in Bigfoot’s death or more irrevocable brain damage.

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Slips, Rips, and KO Clips

Highlight reel!

Not the only great head kick of the night either

Great KO

Great TKO

The “good one” smile

Great submisison sequence here ... took me a couple seconds to realize who was tapping who.

Nikita Krylov ends former Bellator light heavyweight champion Emanuel Newton:

Another angle:

When you can’t slam your way out:

Liver shots are awful to take.

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Quick Hits and Good Reads

• Just how much authority does UFC have to grant USADA exemptions? Iain Kidd explains.
• You know, if you have to get an MMA tattoo, this might be the best you can do. This is art.
• Demetrious Johnson, Jens Pulver and Angela Hill are competing in a $200,000 TwitchCon tournament as “All-Stars.”

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Random Land

That’s how I would react too.

Check out this piece from MMA analyst and historian Dr. Patrick Wyman on the Knights Templar.

Stay woke, Maniacs! Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @Vorpality