Midnight Mania! Ngannou NEVER Welcome Back In UFC

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

It wasn’t a complete shock when Francis Ngannou announced that he and UFC were unable to come to terms, resulting in his free agency. It was, however, a bit sad to see the reigning Heavyweight champion and most talented big man of his era walk away. It could easily have been “The Predator” in the cage opposite Jon Jones at UFC 285 tomorrow evening (Sat., March 4, 2023), but alas, that ship has sailed.

Still, there is hope for the future? Ngannou wants to cross into the boxing ring and fight Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury, but afterward, maybe he’ll return to the Octagon and reclaim his status as the best Heavyweight on the world, right?

UFC President Dana White says otherwise. In the clip above, White responds to numerous reporters asking about Ngannou’s potential return, and White firmly shuts it all down. “No,” he responds. “We negotiated with him for years. It’s over, that’s over. No, he’ll never be in the UFC.”

Fortunately, White is pretty notorious for going back on his “never” statements. Remember when women would never fight in UFC? Times change, and it’s undeniable that Ngannou could sell some pay-per-view (PPV) buys if he ever does want to return. If he continues to stay away, there are many doors open for Ngannou, and he’ll have his pick.

Insomnia

Mark Hunt rants will never, ever go out of style.

It’s good to see Jessica Andrade back at Strawweight, and her return match up is banger!

Francis Ngannou’s first opponent post-UFC career? Brad Tavares’ daughter!

Petr Yan and Henry Cejudo meet at the UFC PI … and I agree with Sean O’Malley.

Three more join the USADA ugly jacket club, and one of them failed a drug test for drostanolone in 2014!

Daniel Cormier gave Bo Nickal one hell of a pep talk, wrestler to wrestler.

Score the fight how you like, I don’t know that anyone can say Jon Jones kicked Dominick Reyes’ butt!

Paddy Pimblett is choking people out left and right in Indonesia.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Herded his opponent towards the ropes then ended it with a single shot!

Remember, the key to an effective slam is making sure your opponent’s chin bounces directly into your own forehead!

Landon Vannata took a spinning kick from Ray Borg straight to the liver — ouch!

Random Land

A different kind of snowplow.

Midnight Music: Punk, 1979

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