Midnight Mania: Darren Till Is Boxing A Russian Influencer?!?

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Darren Till is starting a new chapter in his combat sports career.

The former Welterweight title challenger’s UFC career had not gone according to plan for the last few years. His relocation to Middleweight started well with an upset win over Kelvin Gastelum, and even a tight decision loss to Robert Whittaker was a promising outcome. Then-champion Israel Adesanya was mentioning his name often, and it felt like Till was a genuine threat at 185 lbs.

Then, Derek Brunson choked him out with little ceremony, and Dricus du Plessis did the same just over a year later. Till was suddenly on a three-fight losing streak with a handful of gnarly knee injuries mixed between the defeats. Clearly, something had to give.

Till asked for and was granted his release. He initially announced that he wanted to do some boxing and then return to the Octagon, and now we have some possible clarity as to that first step. He hasn’t confirmed himself, but Russia media source Red Fury have announced that he’ll likely be boxing Magomed Ismailov for the CKOPO promotion.

The post above is the announcement, and the translated caption reads, “According to the information we have, Magomed Ismailov vs. Darren Till is in the works for one of the tournaments in Russia! The parties are at an advanced stage of negotiations. This information was confirmed to us by a friend of Magomed Ismailov.”

Ismailov is well known on social media, but he isn’t just an influencer, however. This ain’t Misfits. He’s a 37-year-old Middleweight with an 18-3-1 professional record in MMA, as well as a 3-0 boxing record. He’s beaten some really good names, top-notch Russian fighters like Aleksander Emelianenko, Ivan Shtyrkov, and Alexander Schlemenko.

Good luck “Gorilla.”

Insomnia

This is the best UFC Halloween costume I’ve ever seen.

A quick highlight of some clean Judo throws:

I don’t really have anything substantial to add on this topic, nor is it the time for a cheeky comment, so let’s keep it simple: this sucks and is bad.

For better or worse, Joe Rogan seems to exist in a different reality than the rest of us.

One Championship needs to hurry up and book Takeru’s debut already.

Mike Tyson mitt clips are only ever a few seconds long, yet they’re still impressive.

Dricus du Plessis goofed around in Paris in support of his country’s rugby team, and MMA fans didn’t know how to react.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

One of the greatest parts of MMA is just how many ways there are to lose. Here’s a new one:

The back take in this clip is sweet, situational but one of my favorites. Elbow pinch is the key!

It’s time to bring Soo Chul Kim back to RIZIN.

Random Land

Need something to watch?

Midnight Music: Alternative, 1996

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