Midnight Mania! Weidman narrates Cyborg punking him then punching Magana

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Remember when Cris Cyborg punched Angela Magana in the mouth, and it was this big deal (but not big enough to keep Cyborg from fighting for a UFC title at UFC 214). In fact, the misdemeanor battery Cyborg was charged with is still pending.

Well, Chris Weidman was there, and he tried to break it up, but Cyborg made him back off real fast. (related: Weidman also turned down a last-minute fight with Anderson Silva at UFC 212)

Weidman told the tale with Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour (starting at the 2 hour 45 minute mark). According to him, the problem began when Weidman’s team and Magana got onto the wrong bus, one reserved for Brazilians. Transcript via MMAFighting.com:

When we got off the bus, that girl, Magana, was right in front of me,” Weidman said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “As I come off the bus, all I see is Cyborg run up to Magana’s face and they’re having words. I had no idea what was going on. I didn’t know if there was any beef. … I don’t follow (Magana) on Twitter so I didn’t realize what she was saying.

“Basically, Cyborg was going nuts on her, like all the words you can think of. She was screaming ‘Who the f**k do you think you are?’ and talking like this and blah, blah, blah.

Magana was kind of quiet and shocked. She was kind of smiling, like a nervous smile. I was thinking, ‘Oh my God’ because she’s way smaller than Cyborg.”

Then, however, Magana realized she had an audience. That’s when the self-styled “Queen” began to talk back to Cris. Weidman tried to de-escalate the situation, but this was one Brazilian he didn’t want to tangle with.

All of sudden (Magana) realizes what’s going on around her,” Weidman said. “She sees that there are a lot of people around and she sees cameras coming out. She grew some balls and all of sudden she starts cursing back at Cyborg. I was thinking, ‘That’s not smart.’

As soon as I saw (Magana) cursing back at Cyborg, I realize there is no one in between them and that something is going to go down,” Weidman said. “I started trying to break it up.

“I came in like, ‘C’mon, guys, let’s calm it down,’ and as soon (as I did that) ‘Cyborg’ just stops screaming at Magana, looks at me and says, ‘Don’t touch me.’

“I was like, ‘Alright, I’m good!’”

Moments later, Cyborg landed the infamous punch- after which, Magana immediately threatened to call the police.

So I backed up and then within a second (Cyborg) takes her hand and cracks Magana,” Weidman said. “Magana did a little shaky leg thing and right away she got teary-eyed. At least from what I heard, right away she started to say, ‘I’m calling the cops’

That was the first thing and then Cyborg just jetted out.

Does Weidman think Cyborg was justified in her anger? From what he could tell afterwards, she had reason to be upset- but punching people to resolve problems is not the smartest way to do things.

I had no idea what was going on,” Weidman said. “I was just thinking, ‘I can’t believe she just beat the s**t out of this little girl.’

“That’s what was going through my head then, but when I saw some of the stuff she was saying to Cyborg I could understand. I don’t know why she would be saying stuff like that to Cyborg, especially if you know you could be seeing her.

“If someone was talking s**t like that about me, I’d probably have something to say to them the next time I see them and we could probably be fighting. I do see where Cyborg went with that.

“Unfortunately, in the world we live in today there are cops and lawsuits, so you can’t just punch people. You have to find other ways to resolve your issues.”

The best part, according to Weidman? Dana White has the video of Cyborg punking him.

“The best part of it is, Dana White has the video,” Weidman said. “He showed me at this thing (we did), but I don’t know if he’s ever going to release it. It is hysterical the way I backtracked.

“They were busting my balls but I have no shame. What am I going to do, step in there to Cyborg and say, ‘No, I will touch you’ and she kicks my ass? What am I gonna do kick her ass? Either way, I’m screwed.

“What if she knocked me out? I may as well just retire then.”

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Insomnia

You have to appreciate Yoel Romero as one of MMA’s most distinctive characters.

I love most of this quote from Justin Gaethje about the state of play in MMA ahead of his UFC debut against a very tough stylistic matchup in Michael Johnson this weekend

Gaethje has had it with the stupidity of some fans

This is a troubling rumor- the UFC is apparently thinking of selling off their flyweight division wholesale.

Max Holloway, UFC featherweight champion, is going head to head with flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson- for the title of “Ultimate” video game champion. The smart money is on Johnson.

If you haven’t seen it, this low-budget action movie tries (and fails) to make Georges St. Pierre landing ground-and-pound from the guard seem like entertainment.

Speaking of welterweights who are supposedly not retired yet...

Random fact of the day

Strength and explosiveness training at American Top Team with Will Brooks and Kyoji Horiguchi.

This weekend in combat sports is going to be a lot of fun:

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Slips, Rips, KO Clips

Justin Gaethje may or may not win this weekend, but he will go all out

Conor McGregor’s friend did good work on the prelims of the controversial Pacquiao-Horn bout:

That eye looks like a doctor’s stoppage to me...

The sweet science of pugilism does have a rich history

Boxing is still pretty incredible sometimes

Take this knockout for instance

There was some good MMA this weekend, even without the UFC

Adventures of the human swiffer broom

I remember this drill

Nice win

Oh, that’s a well-disguised knee. Threw the left hand, then the left knee to time the duck.

This is such a pure overhand

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Quick Hits

• I don’t know who is doing this, and I don’t really want to know, but someone is paying Justine Kish 15 grand for her poop-stained Reebok trunks.
• Gilbert Melendez is going to 145 and his first bout will be against another former lightweight in Jeremy Stephens
• Andrew Richardson previews Pettis vs. Miller, one of the interesting fights UFC 213 has to offer. Here’s another great perspective on that bout as well from Schwan Humes

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Podcasts and Video

I’m really, really looking forward to this fight. Whittaker should win it, but Romero is nothing if not unpredictable.

The Monday Morning Analyst

The Fight Society Podcast with Damon Martin.

The MMA Ratings podcast

I don’t usually listen to Rogan’s podcasts, but I enjoyed this conversation with Josh Barnett:

UFC 213 Beer Pairing with Flyin Brian J:

Andre Ward thinks Mayweather-McGregor will last more than a round, but then again, he didn’t give Horn much chance against Pacquiao.

Watching the first fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Amanda Nunes is really interesting. Nunes showed better cardio than ever before in her career, but she still gassed after beating up on Shevchenko for two rounds. That’s why a five-round rematch is so interesting- does the best defensive striker at 135 (Shevchenko) avoid the finish early again, and at what point does Nunes gas if she does?

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Random Land

That Naruto run is the strongest I’ve ever seen

This is from a nightmare, surely

Stay woke, Maniacs!