Midnight Mania! The Case Of The Disappearing Digit

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Let me preface the following story first and foremost: this is not an April Fool’s joke.

Earlier tonight, Cage Fury Fighting Championship (CFFC) athlete Khetag Pliev competed opposite Devin Goodale. Somewhere in the second round, the 37-year-old “Lion” suffered a grotesque injury, seemingly losing a finger. In the words of commentator CM Punk, “It wasn’t a compound fracture, a break, it wasn’t a dislocation, a break, a laceration. His finger was just gone. It’s gone.”

Making a bad situation worse, it was later revealed that the finger was lost in all the chaos. The promotion made an announcement and reportedly sent a cameraman beneath the cage to search for the digit. Naturally, MMA Twitter immediately went about reviewing the footage and attempting to identify the cause and location of the missing finger.

Fortunate and strangely enough, the finger was found relatively close to where it should be … in the glove! It would seem that after the finger was damaged (to exactly what extent remains unclear online) and bent back into the glove. Here’s some further Twitter analysis:

Mystery solved?

The most similar UFC situation that comes to mind is Josh Emmett’s destroyed finger from his UFC debut. His opponent’s kick resulted in a compound fracture of his finger, forcing Emmett to circle off and delay the last minute or so of the bout in order to win the decision.

Insomnia

This is the worst day of the year for running this column. You think I want to explain to my boss how I got fooled by some fake Ariel Helwani account on Twitter?

Check the timing on these two Tweets — situations changed rapidly in the fight game!

Whether in my DMs or in person at the gym, I cannot tell you how many dudes in their late 20s have asked me if it’s too late for them to start training and “make it” as a pro fighter. Unless you resemble Francis Ngannou, the answer is YES!

Speaking of Ngannou, it is indeed time for UFC to visit Africa. I could not imagine a more hyped event than the three African champions defending in their home continent.

Michael Chandler throwing fundamental combinations with serious torque:

A less fundamental — but still very powerful — flow on mitts …

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Whether in the form of a low kick, step knee, front or head kick, Noiri shows a really brutal right leg in this clip.

Absolutely beautiful slide back and left hand counter from the open side! MMA needs more body punching, but this is a great example of why more fighters don’t try.

This is a tremendous front kick finish!

Random Land

Baseball has some strange rules.

Midnight Music: Midnight Mania’s most devoted reader — my mom! — is in town for about a week, and she requested control of the song selection. Here’s the first pick:

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