Midnight Mania! Izzy Warns Rockhold, ‘Wrestle Him Straight Away!’

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Luke Rockhold may be a fairly significant underdog opposite Paulo Costa this weekend at UFC 278, but Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is backing him.

The pivotal Middleweight co-main event between Rockhold and Costa could go a long way in determining a future title challenger, so it makes sense that Adesanya is paying attention. Breaking down the match up on his YouTube channel, Adesanya emphasized the importance of wearing down Costa early with kicks and takedowns.

“Luke should take him down,” Adesanya said (via MMAJunkie). “Luke, start wrestling straight away. Costa, though, early on (is dangerous). His hips – I remember when Yoel, same thing. Yoel tried to take down Costa, and Costa had the overhook and just whizzered him and then got back up, and they smiled at each other.

“But Luke, if he can wrestle him and get him tired, wear those muscles out. Luke, try to wrestle him straight away. Do what I did: Teep his legs, establish leg kicks a little bit, but start wrestling straight away and make him tired, make him second guess. Make him know he can be taken down or there’s a threat of being taken down.”

On the flip side, Adesanya doesn’t expect much different from Costa. The Brazilian is known for his power punching and combinations, whereas Rockhold has struggled with big hitters in the latter half of his career, suffering his three most recent defeats via knockout.

“Costa, just do what he does,” Adesanya said. “Just barrage him, clip him. If he clips him, he’s probably going to drop Luke.”

“With the time off, hopefully his brain has recovered as much as it can,” Adesanya continued. “My brain goes Luke, so I’m gonna put Luke.”

We’ll find out if Adesanya’s analysis and prediction is on the money Saturday night.

Insomnia

Luke Rockhold with a post in support of his longtime team mate, Cain Velasquez.

I’ve actually rolled with Raul Rosas Jr a few times over the years, his jiu-jitsu at least is genuinely black belt level. Should be fun!

Remember when Colby Covington claimed that Lil Wayne was going to walk out with him at UFC 268? Never happened.

Kevin Holland is out in the world doing good.

Why are Tito Ortiz and Chael Sonnen mouthing off at each other? We do not need this in 2022. We didn’t need it in 2017!

The lead up to Paulo Costa vs. Marvin Vettori was top-tier hilarity.

Kamaru Usman has a chance to tie Anderson Silva this weekend. He’ll probably never defend his title as many times as “Spider” or Georges St. Pierre, but that doesn’t mean the first eight wins of his UFC career don’t count!

There’s only one Tony Ferguson.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

RIP Judo Gene.

I feel like straights to the body from the open stance engagement are becoming more common fight-ending shots.

Muay Thai in MMA gloves is so nasty.

Random Land

“Lions is lucky Canada gooses don’t migrate to Africa.”

Midnight Music: Hip-hop, 2022

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