Midnight Mania! Dvalishvili Recruits Fired Cejudo Coach

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Top-ranked Bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili has jokes.

He’s scheduled to fight former two-weight champion Henry Cejudo this weekend (Sat. Feb. 17, 2024) inside Honda Center in Anaheim, California. There was a very odd incident earlier this week in which Cejudo appeared to publicly fire his longtime coach, Eric Albarracin, while being recorded by UFC “Countdown” cameras.

It’s hard to make heads or tails of the situation. Why would this information about Cejudo firing his coach release after an entire training camp of them theoretically being separated? Is this just another cringe tactic for attention from “Triple C” or a genuine attempt to reignite his career?

Whatever the case, Dvalishvili is trying to turn Cejudo’s loss into his gain! In the video above that Dvalishvili posted on Tuesday, “The Machine” tracks down Albarracin and recruits him by force to his camp and corner. Albarracin tries to decline, but Dvalishvili proclaims “We have a new coach!” and “I love my coach!” anyway.

There is, of course, no chance that Albarracin will actually be in Dvalishvili’s corner on Saturday night. It will be interesting to see whether or not he’s actually standing behind Cejudo, however.

Insomnia

Given that Sean Strickland is not 40 and actually fights at Middleweight, I would be interested in watching this match up. Therefore, it will not happen.

No young athletes dream of fighting in an empty warehouse.

I know Dr. Phil is a not a licensed doctor and all, but I would watch him psychoanalyze Nate Diaz.

UFC Vegas 86 was NOT GOOD, but it did provide us with at least two baffling and hilarious moments.

Back around 2006, one-in-three UFC fighters looked exactly like this.

A bit of a homecoming celebration for Themba Gorimbo!

Gordon Ryan trolls relentlessly, so him getting mocked here has to be fair game, right?

Slips, rips, and KO clips

I have no idea how Goncalves escaped the rear naked choke grip guillotine the first time, but he couldn’t pull off two miracles.

This man hit the floor like he was shot.

Slipenko landed a stiff counter jab and didn’t expect Diphcikov to keep firing …

Random Land

An impressive tandoor oven.

Midnight Music: I listened to the new Kanye album, and it’s okay. The highlight for me is the Freddie Gibbs feature!

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