Midnight Mania! UFC super fan Sydney Sweeney names Ronda Rousey as her favorite fighter

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Let’s start the night off by taking look back over the three biggest stories of Monday, April 7, 2025.

1. Islam Makhachev will wait for UFC 315 to decide if Ilia Topuria is next in line: It makes total sense that Makhachev wants to see if there’s a clear path to 170-pound gold before naming the next contender. I expect Topuria to get the next shot against Makhachev or for vacant/interim gold either way.
2. Trevor Peak injures his knee, out of UFC Des Moines: I hope Trevor Peek returns to his wild brawling ways.
3. Conor McGregor’s meme coin goes up in flames: At least he didn’t successfully steal a bunch of money from his fans, a la Hawk Tuah.

Insomnia

A big combat sports fan, Sydney Sweeney’s favorite UFC fighter being Ronda Rousey is simultaneously surprising and predictable.

Jean Silva accidentally breaking a fan’s ribs would put a bit of a damper on fight week.

One of the view interesting bits of UFC Vegas 105 was Victor Henry’s excellent scrambling.

A good show of respect between main event opponents Josh Emmett and Lerone Murphy.

Wholesome Manel Kape is a rarity.

Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t tolerate any slacking, highly ranked contender or no.

Eating Jake Paul’s overhand doesn’t seem like fun for anyone.

An alternate reality Jiri Prochazka who trains at a regular camp with actual partners would probably be unstoppable, but the samurai magic is worth it.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Gonzalez closes the show with a rip downstairs.

Scary fact of the day (courtesy of Guilherme Cruz): Fabio Maldonado has lost 21 of his 30 bouts in various combat sports since leaving the UFC.

Caught right on the button with a perfect jump.

Random Land

It’s debatable whether we should be calling a genetically modified wolf a direwolf, but it’s still pretty neat!

Midnight Music: Hip-hop, 1994

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