Midnight Mania! Petr Yan expects Sean O’Malley, Henry Cejudo to corner him at UFC 273 — but doesn’t want their sh*tty advice

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Just how important is a corner team? There are rare occasions where we see technical or motivational advice between rounds drastically change a fight. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Mike Perry saved money on coaching fees by getting his girlfriend to corner him and raffling off another spot. More often, that crew falls somewhere in the middle of those extremes, as the corner team is there mostly to provide support and keep their athlete safe if things get bad.

Such corner shenanigans don’t typically come into play in high-profile title fights, however. Interim Bantamweight kingpin Petr Yan lost his corner to visa issues a couple weeks ago, which could conceivably cause some problems ahead of his rematch vs. Aljamain Sterling this weekend at UFC 273. Instead, Yan went on Twitter to recruit Sean O’Malley — a contender in his own division who Yan refers to as “The Poodle” — and Henry Cejudo, the ex-Bantamweight champ that has tried to call for a fight with Yan.

It wasn’t clear initially if Yan was joking, and frankly, it still isn’t entirely clear. Cejudo will be at the event to corner his teammate Chan Sung Jung, and based on Yan’s comments on The MMA Hour, he seems serious about letting his rivals onto his team on fight night.

As long as they don’t talk too much.

“The situation now is that there were a couple guys who were willing to help me,” Yan said via his translator. “So, I hope Cejudo and Sean O’Malley, they are going to show up Saturday night. I just need to make sure they don’t give me sh—ty advice, just give me ice and water and I will be fine.”

Hopefully, whoever ends up in Yan’s corner can properly advise him on the legality of knees.

LIVE! Watch UFC 274 PPV On ESPN+ Here!

CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLE DIP! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to Phoenix, Ariz., on Sat., May 7, 2022, with a blockbuster championship doubleheader. Headlining the pay-per-view (PPV) event will be Lightweight champion, Charles Oliveira, seeking to defend his title against No. 1-ranked contender, Justin Gaethje. In UFC 274’s co-main event, women’s Strawweight champion, Rose Namajunas, looks to avenge her loss against No. 2-seeded, Carla Esparza. And top-ranked Lightweight contenders collide when Michael Chandler (No. 5) locks horns with Tony Ferguson (No. 7) in a fan-friendly 155-pound clash for the ages.

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Insomnia

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Slips, rips, and KO clips

It took me several watches to figure out what happened in the clip below, and I’m still not sure if it was intentional or not.

A pretty cool moment from the kickboxing world:

A wild missed uppercut into a funky capoeira kick — awesome!

Random Land

Is this clip real? What is happening? I am unsettled.

Midnight Music: Bebop, 1952

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.