Midnight Mania! Video: Masvidal Teaches Paul Secret To KO Askren

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

We’re still more than two months away from Ben Askren crossing over to the boxing ring to scrap with YouTube star Jake Paul on April 17, but preparations are well under way for each man. Askren has already been posting workout videos of himself jumping rope and improving his footwork, whereas Paul has taken a different approach, seeking out former Askren foe Jorge Masvidal as his latest sensei.

“He knocked out my opponent @benaskren in 5 seconds and now will help me do it in less time,” Paul tweeted. “@gamebredfighter is teaching me his secrets … April 17th the fight will last less than 4 seconds and then we coming for @natediaz209.”

In the clip, Masvidal is demonstrating a switch step to disguise a shifting overhand. Though it may be intended for use opposite “Funky,” Masvidal himself is better known for knocking Darren Till senseless with a very similar setup and punch (WATCH IT!). Of course, Paul’s version looks more like an odd shovel uppercut, so hopefully the two continued practicing after the video’s end.

Insomnia

Gilbert Burns is putting in the work ahead of his title fight vs. Kamaru Usman next month!

I’m no surgeon, but it seems safe to say we’re unlikely to see Dillon Danis in the cage or ring anytime soon.

Stephen Thompson retains his “NMF” title.

MMA is a weird place stuck a decade or two in the past.

I feel like this is the third time this fight has been booked, but it’s also the third time I’m super down to watch it.

He may be favored by the odds makers to do so, but Francis Ngannou doesn’t have to win the title to have a documentary-worthy life story.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

This is an absolute excellent incidence of “Anything you can do, I can do better.”

Sometimes the cans don’t know they’re cans!

Some “Thugjitsu” at its finest:

Random Land

A cat on a snowboard.

Midnight Music: I finished the aforementioned folk playlist tonight, and the closer was Arlo Guthrie’s 18-minute talking blues piece titled “Alice’s Restaurant Massacre.” Having just gone into the track blind, I’d recommend that as the best option, but for anyone in need of convincing: the track inspired a movie, was recently preserved by National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, and has a few thousand words written up on it on Wikipedia. It’s funny!

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