Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Khabib Nurmagomedov managed to dominate at UFC 254 (HIGHLIGHTS!), overwhelming Justin Gaethje in the second round to sleep him with a triangle choke before immediately retiring. To make the situation even more impressive, Nurmagomedov revealed he endured a camp from hell. He came with receipts too, providing x-rays of his broken toes and foot.
If for some reason you doubt “The Eagle,” fight fans have proven quite observant, noticing a split-second where Khabib’s already injured toe/foot caught onto the cage. The YouTube channel That’s Pretty Neat isolated the moment as Nurmagomedov attempted to sit to his back with the triangle choke. When his toe snags the fence, Nurmagomedov’s face is fixed in agony.
So while his injury did end up affecting the fight for a moment, Nurmagomedov kept its influence to a minimum by finishing the choke just moments later. Still … that’s pretty neat!
Insomnia
Is this the coolest use of a win bonus in UFC history?
Who will capture the vacant Lightweight belt?
Kevin Lee hasn’t posted a follow up yet, but his head tattoo is going to be wild.
When the dehydrated and hungry athlete seems the more reasonable person in an argument, the other guy is probably in the wrong.
If you’re willing to trade an injury or two for a world title belt — and most fighters do the former without the latter! — AKA is the place to be.
The Khabib vs. Jon Jones debate did create some solid memes.
Slips, rips, and Grand Prix clips
Based on the clip, Zholdoshbekov really fought his way back into this one on grit before landing a very slick high-elbow guillotine.
… Whereas Bekbolat abused his foe with a more straightforward ground mauling.
When the two faced off in the finals, Zholdoshbekov was awarded the decision victory. Caposa didn’t post any highlights for that bout, but the whole event can be viewed HERE!
Throwback to Anderson Silva scoring one of the coolest knockouts ever (which has yet to be really replicated as far as I know!):
Random Land
A vocal goat:
Midnight Music: Industrial hip-hop band Clipping have gone full horror movie on their latest release Visions Of Bodies Being Burned — the title is an homage to the iconic Geto Boys song “Mind Playing Tricks On Me.” It’s probably not an album I’ll come back to often, but few groups can match their intensity.
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.
