Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Like it or not, Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson is happening.
Scheduled for July 20 in Arlington, Texas and airing live on Netflix, the match up is not engendering a lot of good feelings from the boxing community. Paul is facing major criticism for pursuing a bout with a 57-year-old retired boxer. Nevertheless, the bout is happening, though it’s unclear whether or not it will go down as a professional contest.
Good thing the Texas Athletic Commission is famously incompetent.
Typically, training camps for combat sports athletes begin eight or 12 weeks removed from the event. July 20th is a fair bit more than three months away (I count about 19 weeks from today), but getting ready for a fight at 57 is different! Presumably, Tyson is going to ramp up his training more slowly than an athlete in his prime.
Whatever the case, Tyson looks fast and powerful in the short clip above, which sees him cracking pads with legendary MMA coach Rafael Cordeiro, who also helped him prepare for Roy Jones Jr in 2020.
Here’s hoping one of those left hooks land flush in July.
Insomnia
Colby Covington vs. Ian Garry? I would watch it, and it’s time for “Chaos” to fight down the ladder and defend his spot.
Tyson Pedro went broke fighting MMA, so now he’s headed back to the boxing ring.
I hope Francis Ngannou’s next move is a PFL debut, but I wouldn’t fault him for accepting another huge check to fight Deontay Wilder (or something like that).
Francis Ngannou has insisted that he is “not done with boxing” despite his KO defeat to Anthony Joshua, but mentioned that his next fight could be with PFL in MMA vs Renan Ferreira.
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) March 13, 2024
Drop seonagi in nature!
I’d love to hear some other answers in the comments, but the obvious one that pops into my head is Nick Diaz laying on the canvas in front of Anderson Silva.
What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever seen an MMA fighter do?
Inside or outside the cage.
— Ben Kiely (@TheJivemaster) March 13, 2024
Cory Sandhagen seems personally offended that Marlon Vera received a title shot before him. His critique was unusually mean!
The kind of support you want in a corner.
Slips, rips, and KO clips
“MMA fighters will never have head movement like boxers!”
Cheick Kongo talks through arguably the greatest comeback KO in UFC history.
An excellent club and sub!
Random Land
I didn’t expect how this clip ended.
Midnight Music: Punk, 1981
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
