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Midnight Mania! Nate Diaz claims UFC offered him title shot ‘in any weight class,’ but he’s going to box instead

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

There was a lot going on in this tweet by Nathan Donald Diaz today. Firstly, he said he has been offered a title fight in any weight class. This is part of the ongoing narrative that began when it was rumored Diaz vs. Woodley was in the works for UFC 219. That never materialized, probably because the UFC didn’t offer Diaz enough money. Afterward, Dana White claimed that talks were never serious, that one of their lawyers went off the reservation. Both Diaz and Woodley were quick to call Dana on his shit, Diaz doing it via hilarious video meme.

Shutup bitch. Your both thirsty .... And why is u lying

A post shared by natediaz209 (@natediaz209) on

Secondly, Diaz says that he’s kool, and he will give them a shot when they do something good. In other words, he isn’t about to give up millions of dollars to fight someone besides Conor McGregor.

Speaking of Conor McGregor ...

The last part of the tweet is “On to the next sport for now”, and in case you thought he was referring to water polo, Diaz included two boxing glove emojis. Guess what news got announced earlier today?

Diaz has a history of watching what McGregor does and then imitating that behavior -- especially when it comes to boxing. In Diaz’s mind, he’s the original, and McGregor is stealing everything he worked for, motherfucker. He’s the guy who has been sparring high-level boxers since before McGregor got into UFC; he should be the one boxing professionally now.

It’s not clear what opponent Diaz has in mind, if any, but it could be interesting seeing where he, and McGregor for that matter, take things. Dana White has said Zuffa is getting into boxing, but will Nate Diaz be at all interested in being promoted by Zuffa boxing? If he decides to box under another promotion, as is his right under the Ali Act, will the UFC be able to stop him? If McGregor is serious about boxing Manny Pacquiao, are the UFC just going to let him keep the lightweight title while chasing another big-money fight in boxing?

Insomnia

#Neverforget

Justin Gaethje released this statement today:

With Robert Whittaker booked against Rockhold at UFC 221, it’s a good time to bring up how hard he hits again:

It’s always too much to expect for Reebok and UFC to gear their fighters correctly.

Uber Tale of the Tape for Swanson-Ortega tomorrow night:

Gokhan Saki doing recovery exercises ...

I will never cease to be impressed with the kind of shape fighters are in:

Matt Brown might stay retired if you buy his exercise equipment ...

Always fun when blood is spattering on the commentator’s notes outside the cage:

Gotta love a woman who can fight with vocabulary.

Mackenzie Derrrr ... I feel bad for this tasteless joke already.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s strength and conditioning coaches RIP into her weight cut team, blaming them in large part for her poor performance at UFC 217.

Speaking the TRUTH!! #Repost @fightshape_ricci (@get_repost) ・・・ I do my best to stifle negative comments about fightsport colleagues, but, Joanna is one of my favorite fighters. Yet respect to Rose, she is a great fighter & wonderful young woman. Joanna's skill is superb, conditioning elite as her S&C coach is amongst the best in MMA, if not the best @darustrong. Amongst her skill, Joanna is known for her chin & resiliency so last fight was completely inconsistent with her career (I know anyone can knock out anyone, it’s a fight) I understand fully Joanna became champ with this very weightcut team so I get why blame PA now? Obviously, adjustments need be made as a fighter ages, there are potential metabolic adaptive effects over years of cuts, & fighters like Joanna are so skilled, in such great shape, & so tough, they override shit cuts most of their career. My experience with this weightcut team started on a phone call in which I was belittled & talk down to for an hour, condemnation towards my training & nutritional protocols, particularly my supplement protocol as whey protein, creatine, essential aminos, & even beta-alanine, were considered deleterious to fight performance & inconsistent with their -Holistic Approach- which includes God Dam hummus & pretzels as a valid post-training meal! The result of these holistic practices was a solid camp ending with my fighter in the cage 12Ibs light & unsuccessful title defense, which to this day, I attribute the lost to the absolute worst rehydration protocol I have seen in 2O yrs of full-time MMA practice. Actually, it was quite impressive as i have never seen an athlete’s Biomotor & Cognitive abilities destroyed so well in only 24 hrs. I wish the best for Rose in her title defenses, but will certainly pull diligently for Joanna to get her Belt Back & hope she remodels her metabolism & again achieves optimal fight performance. I’ think it best she is no longer with PA team. To PA Team, my words, treat your peers with decency, & STAY THE F$CK OUT OF OUR WAY SHOULD I or PHIL DARU have the misfortune of having to collaborate with your arrogance again.

A post shared by Phil Daru FMS CFSC ISSA-KMS (@darustrong) on

Apparently it was really awful ...

It IS snowing in Houston ... but Derrick Lewis has another goal:

Who’s up for this Bellator heavyweight tourney?

T.J. Dillashaw backing the man who once kicked his butt in boxing sparring, Vasyl Lomachenko:

Max Holloway, who said he “Lomachenko’d” Aldo, will be in attendance:

Cannot wait for this!

Slips, Rips, and KO Clips

Some day, Ronda Rousey is going to come back and fight Mackenzie Dern ...

A lot of armbars tonight!

Out cold!

I love this sequence -- bounced back up with a spinning backfist:

These do look fun:

This was a nice classic armbar:

It’s the body shot, idiot!

Nice trip ...

Defense is the hardest part of striking to learn:

Podcasts and Video

On the latest MMA Outsiders, we discuss pancakes, Swanson-Ortega, Lomachenko-Rigondeaux, UFC 218, and tackle opposite perspectives on the news that GSP vacated the middleweight title.

Check us out on SoundCloud as well as iTunes and Stitcher on the official MMA Mania channel!

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Random Land

In my Facebook memories I found this old gem: my first (and only official) amateur MMA fight. I didn’t really know how to strike at this point, as you can see by the way I threw 60 million kicks in the second round, or the way I dropped my hands and ran into the overhand that broke my jaw. It was the only good punch he landed the entire fight, which annoyed me to no end. I also remember everything seeming surreal and feeling like I was punching through jelly ... with no power.

Despite Andrew breaking his jaw in this fight he was still able to pull out a 2nd round tko win

Posted by 5th Round Fitness MMA on Sunday, December 8, 2013

Posted by 5th Round Fitness MMA on Sunday, December 8, 2013

Dogs are hilarious!

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

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