Welcome to Midnight Mania!
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.
Insomnia
Brian Stann knew something about Khamzat Chimaev before the rest of us!
In June 2017, Brian Stann mentioned a welterweight training in Sweden who would one day enter the UFC and make "real waves" pic.twitter.com/0SQ8nRa2LD
— Oscar Willis (@oscarswillis) April 4, 2022
This is just insulting.
Based on this match up, I predict Daukaus starts his first UFC win streak in June.
Kyle Daukaus (@KyleDaukaus) will fight Roman Dolidze (@romandolidzeufc) at UFC event on June 18th. (first rep. @iHeartGeorgius1) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN pic.twitter.com/vIB6vJoRe9
— Marcel Dorff (@BigMarcel24) April 4, 2022
Is it funny training clips like this that have Chatri Sityodtong convinced One Championship’s Heavyweights are superior to Francis Ngannou?
Some very technical and controlled Muay Thai sparring:
The forbidden love between a Flyweight and Heavyweight ...
Alexander Volkanovski’s mental game and competitive drive is such a huge part of why that man is UFC champion.
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.
youll shit bricks when you see it pic.twitter.com/oIL3hlZQes
— Downward Elbow (@DownwardElbow) April 3, 2022
A pretty cool moment from the kickboxing world:
Mahmoud Sattari's power is just too much! Three dominant performances later, he stands on top of the K-1 Openweight World GP! His crown presented by no other than Mister K-1 himself, Peter Aerts!@Mahmoud_Sattari | #k1wgp pic.twitter.com/hPJlISVDtz
— Beyond Kickboxing (@Beyond_Kick) April 3, 2022
A wild missed uppercut into a funky capoeira kick — awesome!
What the hell was that???pic.twitter.com/tKIrb4JFMQ
— Cerebral Vigilante (@Delisketo) April 3, 2022
Random Land
Is this clip real? What is happening? I am unsettled.
109-year-old Monk
— Alex Behunin (@AlexBehunin) April 3, 2022
Wild but that might be enough internet for me today
pic.twitter.com/srDEzCXO2N
Midnight Music: Bebop, 1952
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.
Loading comments...