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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Khabib Nurmagomedov is a man fighting on his own schedule. The Lightweight great never seemed in a rush to capture the belt, always confident that it would eventually become his property. Now that Nurmagomedov is champion with a pair of title defenses to his name, little has changed. Despite his relatively painless victory over Dustin Poirier in September, Nurmagomedov isn’t looking to return to the cage until March or April.

Luckily, he’s also a man who values legacy above all else, leading to his desire for a showdown with Tony Ferguson rather than a rematch with Conor McGregor. He outlines his plan in the video above, but here’s the transcription/translation courtesy of RT Sport:

“It will be in March or April. I said it clearly – I want to fight in a large arena, and the only large indoor arena in Russia is Gazprom Arena (in St. Petersburg)... I have to say that Tony Ferguson deserves it more. You have to give him credit. He is on a 12-fight win streak and he deserves it more than Conor. Conor has to come back (and) stop hitting old people. He is a professional fighter. He should come back, win, earn his place and get in line.”

In addition, Nurmagomedov does mention that despite the continued bad blood with the Irishman, a simple apology would serve as an acceptable peace offering. I wouldn’t bet on that happening, but Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson in a massive Russian arena? I’d be willing to wait until March for a fight like that!

Insomnia

Team Alpha Male’s Tyler Diamond (11-1, Ultimate Fighter veteran) is looking to replace Brock Weaver on Saturday. He won a regional fight via first-round submission just two days ago, and he’s ready for this opportunity!

Adesanya Anime.

At least Tom Segura is a good comedian, it could be worse!

Mike Perry sparring videos continue to be top-notch content.

“Cro Cop” uses both his police experience and MMA expertise to demonstrate the correct way to disable multiple attackers:

Zhang Weili is having visa issues, but per one of her comments, presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard reached out to help!

How long until we get a video of Darren Till beating up this internet troll?

Claudia Gadelha fooled quite a few people with this prop before revealing the joke.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

When backed into the fence, it’s important not to allow the hips to square up for a huge number of reasons. Here’s one of them:

Low kick stoppages are growing more and more commonplace in MMA, but it’s still pretty rare to see an inside low kick serve as the finishing blow.

It’s a bad night of work when forced to swallow a half dozen elbows and a flying knee.

Random Land

Stuck in a rear naked choke? Try this.

Midnight Music: For anyone into shoegaze, DIIV’s new album Deceiver is worth a listen. It’s familiar territory for the band but a bit darker and with a dash of grunge influence mixed in.

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