Midnight Mania! ‘Black Beast’ Vs. ‘Predator’ 2?

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

The first meeting between Derrick Lewis vs. Francis Ngannou will stand out as one of the great MMA disappointments of the 2010s. Arguably the two heaviest-handed men in the history of the division faced off, and … it was terrible. A grand total of 31 significant strikes were landed across 15 minutes, and very few of them were punches to the face.

Nothing happened really, but Lewis threw a few more kicks, so he scored the unanimous decision nod!

Despite the win, Lewis is definitely interested in running it back and delivering a better performance. On The Joe Rogan Experience, Lewis explained that he hoped “The Predator” would win the belt, setting up a championship rematch between to two.

“Yes for sure (we need a rematch),” Lewis said (transcription via MMAJunkie). “I’ve got to get that one (again). Yeah (I would like him next).”

However, don’t expect Lewis to wait too long for that potential match up to emerge, particularly since Jon Jones may jump the Heavyweight line sometime in the Summer. If a title fight doesn’t materialize quickly, Lewis’ priority is on getting paid, and he’s definitely willing to stay active.

“For me, I want to stay active,” Lewis told Rogan. “I don’t want to be waiting around to fight anyone, because I’m not young like I used to (be). So I don’t want to wait around and fight for the title or wait around to fight a certain opponent. I want to fight anyone who is ready. I know my window of time is closing to make money. I don’t have that much time left to make money, so I don’t want to just sit around.”

Notably, Lewis mentioned Ciryl Gane as a potential foe, though he wasn’t sure if UFC would match the two up. Who would you like to see “The Black Beast” face next?

Insomnia

Between the following clip and his dead man’s rope keepsake, is Jan Blachowicz the most metal UFC champion of all time?

This is quality veteran vs. prospect matchmaking.

… and here’s an excellent upcoming prospect vs. prospect fight! It’s a shame one man will leave the cage riding consecutive losses though.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk falls victim to virtual reality!

A few interesting ways to train reaction time:

Leon Edwards is jacked, leave his skinny waist alone!

Y’all cannot make fun of Khabib either, that man has starved himself for the last 20+ years, he can eat as much tiramisu as he’d like!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Beneil Dariush vs. Tony Ferguson is going to be absolute fire. I hope “El Cucuy” can return to form a bit, but also, I’d like to see Dariush’s run continue.

One of the more polite knockouts I have ever seen, and on the ice too!

The forearm in the throat made this slam particularly effective.

Random Land

Cat fight!

Midnight Music: A early classic from Smokey Robinson and The Miracles.

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