Midnight Mania! ‘Pay The Man!’

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Dustin Poirier is a pretty incredible fighter. The former interim Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight strap-hanger has fought an outrageously high-level of competition over the years. Justin Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez, Max Holloway — Poirier goes toe-to-toe with champions, consistently putting on all-time great fights, at no small cost to his own health.

Does “The Diamond” deserve some extra cash for all his extraordinary effort?

The Louisiana-native believes so, and ahead of what would surely prove to be yet another barn-burner opposite Tony Ferguson, he stood his ground in negotiations. UFC promptly moved on from the bout, labeling the negotiations unsalvageable.

Perhaps a bit surprisingly, Poirier’s would-be opponent Ferguson is on his side. “El Cucuy” tweeted out support for Poirier, requesting UFC “pay the man” and make the fight happen.

UFC 254 is still about six weeks away, so perhaps there’s a chance for all sides to come to an agreement. Unless something dramatic happens, however, it would appear that Dan Hooker is the rather possible option to replace Poirier.

Shameless Self-Promotion

I accepted a short-notice fight for the Global Legion FC Flyweight title on September 26th in Tampa, Florida! For each of my previous professional fights, I’ve raised funds to cover camp costs via my banner, in which members of the Mania community can get their name/nickname/username on the banner via a $5 or more donation. The promotion has rules against advertising during their shows, so the banner is unlikely to make it into the actual cage, but it will still be signed and raffled to a random supporter.

For anyone reading who enjoys my writing and would like to support/enter the raffle, I have Venmo (AndyLRichardson), PayPal ([email protected]), and a GoFundMe. There will be a PPV stream link that I’ll include here as well once I have it … Let’s bring home a belt, y’all!

Insomnia

Chase Hooper improves upon an Askren family photo:

Both of these guys deserve a shot at a more well-known name, but damn if this isn’t a great fight!

Is it me, or is Derrick Lewis looking leaner than ever?

Kevin Croom changed his life with his last-second upset win over the weekend (WATCH IT!).

Shockingly, the Internet is already cracking jokes at Conor McGregor and his latest charge.

What do you make of the Ed Herman vs. Mike Rodriguez controversy?

Illegal … but cool!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

A big overhand causes the chicken dance!

SUMO CLIPS!

That’s one way to follow up on a missed kick!

Random Land

A little three-on-one boxing!

Midnight Music: There aren’t many better workout albums than Welcome to Sky Valley.

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