Midnight Mania Highlights: ROBBERY?!?!

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Teofimo Lopez vs. Jamaine Ortiz just wrapped up moments ago (Thurs. Feb. 8, 2024) from inside Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lopez sought the first defense of his WBO Super Welterweight title, and technically, he achieved that goal with a unanimous decision victory after 12 rounds of combat.

Maybe with a little help from the judges …

First things first, Lopez vs. Ortiz was not a good fight. If you watch the first three rounds, you’ve effectively seen the entire 36 minutes of “action.” The general flow of the match went like this: Ortiz, fighting from the Southpaw stance, flashed jabs that didn’t land and circled to his right. Lopez chased him all over but never really tried to cut off the cage.

The most significant strike in 12 rounds of boxing was an accidental clash of heads. Otherwise, Ortiz landed the occasional check hook with some pop, while Lopez connected on a few counter uppercuts that may have done some damage. Nobody was ever hurt or particularly bothered, and both men finished the contest with fairly clean faces and an awful landing percentage.

Still, it felt like Ortiz was the more effective man overall by a small margin. MMAmania’s own Patrick Stumberg scored the fight 118-110 Ortiz, and the majority of scorecards I saw online were also in favor of “The Technician.” The bout was too close and too uninteresting for anyone to get overly upset, but it’s still somewhat shocking that the final scorecards were so in favor of Lopez (117-111, 115-113 x2).

Check out the (meager) highlights below:

For a man who rebranded himself “The Showman,” this wasn’t exactly a star-making night for Teofimo Lopez. He may have scraped by with the victory, but he probably didn’t earn many new fans with this performance.

Insomnia

Cris Cyborg doesn’t expect to compete in the cage in the first half of 2024 … at a minimum.

Gilbert Burns isn’t buying the Colby Covington x-ray schtick.

I thought sending this shirt to Matt Frevola was a bit of a d—k move at first, but then previous tweets revealed it was Frevola’s idea, and now I’m fully on board.

I do not like this news.

I’m going to have difficulty spelling his name for at least two years, but this man’s fit is tremendous. The Mongolian talent is 8-0 at 25 years of age.

Who knows whether or not Zabit Magomedsharipov would’ve become UFC champion, but the man always had some slick moves.

Favorite left hook in MMA history is a difficult question. Jose Aldo vs. Jeremy Stephens comes to mind!

Featherweight violence in the works:

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Jeremiah Wells is one of the mostly oddly athletic fighters in recent memory.

More “Robocop” content!

A great Muay Thai highlight!

Random Land

A quick word from a founding father:

Midnight Music: Folk, 1965

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