Midnight Mania! Edson Barboza calls out Ferguson for interim title fight, says Conor is not the true champion

Welcome to Midnight Mania! Tonight we’ve got Edson Barboza calling out Tony Ferguson, video of Khabib eating (or not eating) the tiramisu before his weight-cut failure at UFC 209, highlights from EBI11, including (of course) a twister submission, crazy leaping armbars, and much more.

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Insomnia

Lightweight standout Edson Barboza has plans for Tony Ferguson. In an interview with MMAFighting.com, Barboza spoke out about his place in the 155-lb. title picture. With the Khabib’s future uncertain after missing weight, the latest in a long string of fight-ending injuries, Barboza thinks that this is his time. Riding a two-fight win streak over Anthony Pettis and Gilbert Melendez, Barboza is a dark horse contender at lightweight, and he wants a rematch with El Cucuy for the interim belt.

I feel that’s gonna be a perfect fight, you know? Me against Ferguson for the interim belt. I think that’s the fight makes sense for me after this one.

Their first fight was on short notice, and it was an all-out war, with Barboza eventually succumbing to exhaustion- and one of Ferguson’s nasty D’Arce chokes- in the second round. The Brazilian got the better of many of the first-round striking exchanges, and no one can argue with the entertainment value of running that one back again. Barboza talks about the adjustments he would need to win a rematch, and mentions an illegal upkick by Ferguson that rocked him in the first round.

Most important, I get a full camp, cause I say yes for fight with him for short notice, just four weeks train. I was in Brazil, you know? Just a full-time camp, and I hope, not an illegal upkick, you know?

When asked if he thought the real lightweight champion would be the winner of that fight with Ferguson, with Conor McGregor on paternity leave, Barboza was frank in his assessment.

Yeah, I think so, because, man, I have more than ten fights in this division, more than fifteen. Ferguson have more than ten fights, Khabib have more than ten fights. Conor, I think, have just one fight in the division, and he’s the champ. That really don’t make sense for me... I really don’t care about Conor. I think he’s not true champ. I think the champ’s gonna be me, or Khabib, or Ferguson.

Before anything like that, though, Barboza has to get past the very durable Beniel Dariush, who is riding a two-fight win streak of his own.

Remember, though, Barboza can do this.

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Bobs and Weaves

On a video from February 1st, via mmaimports.com, Khabib Nurmagomedov is seen eating that tiramisu... or is he? He says he did not actually partake of the delectable dessert. It appears as though Khabib’s teammates are messing with him, and Khabib goes along with the joke during his weight cut.

That didn’t stop Tony Ferguson from chewing Khabib out. Ferguson, though, had reason to be pissed, as the UFC paid him less than half his show money for circumstances entirely outside his control.

I’m having this much fun too, because... spring break!!! Yeah...

Maybe hit the squat rack, Sage. Lightweight. See what I did there?

EBI 11 went down on March 5th, on UFC Fight Pass. Of course there was a twister submission win. Of course.

This was also the first look at Combat Jiu Jitsu, which allows open-handed ground strikes. Champions.co details the rule change:

Another Twister attempt that didn’t quite come off:

Other things on Fight Pass include Mark Hunt’s rough-and-tumble K1 kickboxing career.

Watch this insane submission. Women’s Day may have passed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still celebrate excellence:

This is, to borrow the Golbergism, virtually identical.

Phrasing. Are we still doing phrasing?

At least Rockhold’s not alone with the ambiguous wording.

Anyone miss Cody Mckenzie?

This was a great guillotine.

Stipe Miocic won the title with this footwork.

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Quick Hits

• Don’t watch Christie Mack’s testimonial against “War Machine” if you want to have a good night’s sleep
• Frankie Edgar vs. Yair Rodriguez has been booked for UFC 211 in Dallas on May 13th, which is looking increasingly stacked. It is so stacked, in fact, that some have suggested un-booking Maia vs. Masvidal and re-booking Woodley vs. Maia and Wonderboy vs. Masvidal on different cards. I am in favor of said unbooking and booking
• Blindspot actress Jaimie Alexander details her fight scene with Ronda Rousey for an episode of the show- she says she blacked out (but loved working with Rousey)

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Podcasts and Video

Joe Rogan and Brett Okamoto discuss UFC matchmaking. Joe’s opinions on this are no mystery.

On Gastelum’s unwilling middleweight career:

Professional fighter and resident MMAMania.com analyst Andrew Richardson breaks down Kelvin Gastelum’s jab with Andrew Coyne. Good job, Andrews.

Stay woke, Maniacs!