Midnight Mania! DC: Paul ‘Beats Up’ Danis

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

I hate to say it, but Jake Paul may just be the biggest winner of Saturday night’s Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. event. By scoring an absolutely tremendous knockout opposite former NBA star Nate Robinson (WATCH IT!), Paul advanced his professional record to 2-0 and generated a ton of hype. Tyson himself even argued for a YouTube-tier title belt!

Immediately after the fight, Paul smartly had two names ready to go: Conor McGregor and Dillon Danis. The former bout is still a long, long way from happening, but the latter? Danis, the jiu-jitsu trainer of McGregor, is currently recovering from a knee injury on the Bellator sidelines, leaving him somewhat available to box.

For Paul, fighting Danis is an opportunity to create beef with McGregor, whereas it’s a huge money opportunity for the grappler. The fight makes sense to the point that it seems likely.

Daniel Cormier likes the YouTube boxer over the professional fighter.

Danis has yet to show much kickboxing in the cage, but he’s been training with a professional fight team for years. At the very least, he’s a significant step up from fellow YouTubers and former basketball players.

Is Cormier on the money or off his rocker?

Insomnia

Saenchai demonstrates the correct way to do a legends fight: book him against overmatched young foes.

Typical Nate Diaz: is this a fight announcement or retirement post? Who can say!

Sounds like UFC Vegas 18 still has a main event … for now.

Anthony Smith vs. Paul Craig sounds like a fairly fun fight. Smith should win, but then, isn’t that the case with plenty of Craig’s wins?

Brian Kelleher shoots his shot:

On a related financial note for fighters:

Troll Darren Till is best “Gorilla.”

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Chasing the finish from the first bell:

Akrami rolled well after his first right hand but began ducking too much, leading to the finish.

In this clip at least, elbow > knee.

Random Land

I’m mad that I didn’t see this in time to post on Thanksgiving, but it’s still a must.

Midnight Music: 2020 is coming to a close soon enough, which means that end of the year lists can direct me to albums I was too lazy to listen to on release. Tonight’s example is Waxahatchee’s Saint Cloud, a very nicely written Indie rock album with a folk-y twang. Give it a listen!

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