Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Sorry Michael Chandler, but the Conor McGregor snowball appears to be rolling in a new direction.
Last Saturday (July 29, 2023), Justin Gaethje scored arguably the best win of his entire career by smoking Dustin Poirier with a second-round high kick (watch highlights) in the main event of UFC 291. It didn’t take long for McGregor to throw his name into the mix and start talking trash.
Initially, Gaethje dismissed the talk, explaining he’d prefer to fight someone who isn’t on steroids — and no, for anyone wondering, there has been no update on McGregor joining the USADA pool. However, something has changed for Gaethje, who earlier today took to Twitter to implore McGregor to “Sign the contract big boy.”
McGregor replied soon afterward. Though he didn’t directly answer Gaethje’s post, his one word response was clear enough: “Signed.”
Currently, Gaethje is in line for a title shot, whereas McGregor hasn’t won a fight since January 2020. Gaethje may still opt to chase dollar signs, but as Chandler is continually learning, agreeing to a fight with McGregor doesn’t actually mean much until a contract is actually signed and both men are in the Octagon.
Stay tuned for further developments.
Insomnia
UFC is going to drop the hammer on Michel Pereira. Is it time for “Demolidor” at Middleweight?
Michel Pereira was removed from rankings eligibility in the welterweight division in the latest #UFC rankings update.
After missing weight at #UFC291 and having his bout with Stephen Thompson scrapped, the previous No. 15 welterweight was shifted to the middleweight division. pic.twitter.com/iNYOENDXVQ
— John Morgan (@JohnMorgan_MMA) August 1, 2023
Rafael dos Anjos isn’t impressed with Tony Ferguson’s eye poke complaints. We need Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones to weigh in next!
In case you’re unaware: strikes wrapping around the back of the head in a stand up exchange will never be considered illegal, unless you want everyone turning away from punches and chasing DQs.
Uh-oh, the timeline for Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Kelvin Gastelum is growing muddy. Get Rakhmonov in there vs. Usman or Belal instead!
Breaking news
Unfortunately I received an injury and my fight with Shavkat Rakhmonov off/delayed
Full video on my YouTube channel. pic.twitter.com/NXxvHjU54U— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) August 1, 2023
Pinata, I agreed to fight you on your territory on Mexican Independence Day in arena full of your supporters and it’s not my problem you can’t do it now. It’s your turn to accept to fight me on my territory in Abu Dhabi at UFC 294! Or did you realize it was bad idea just now? https://t.co/Q8HYG5d9XC
— Shavkat “Nomad” Rakhmonov (@Rakhmonov1994) August 1, 2023
The new Tony Ferguson pain collage looks different than the original.
There are worse Middleweight fights to book than Brendan Allen vs. Israel Adesanya. “All-In” is at least a more serious grappling threat than someone like Sean Strickland.
Not sure what the hold up is but if you need someone to fight @stylebender ill fly to sydney and take that belt off your hands! Money, training, time, etc no problem. You prolly got bigger things but if you just need a fight have your ppl call my ppl
— Brendan Allen (@BrendanAllenMMA) July 30, 2023
Darius Flowers claims he fought with high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), a potentially fatal condition. Yikes!
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Terence Crawford put on a show over the weekend.
Matt Brown breaks down his most recent knockout win:
Through the ropes!
Random Land
I eagerly await receiving my $0.75 in the eventual class action settlement.
Taco Bell was sued today in a false advertising class action.
Consumers allege that Taco Bell misrepresents the amount of beef in the Crunchwrap Supreme “by at least double the amount.” pic.twitter.com/a0J84dsMin
— Rob Freund (@RobertFreundLaw) July 31, 2023
Midnight Music: Mom Pick #2
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
