Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Sean O’Malley is in the midst of his UFC 299 victory lap.
Having put on a master class against the absurdly durable Marlon Vera (watch highlights), O’Malley is doing the usual tour of podcasts and television appearances to talk about his performance, boxing Floyd Mayweather, and all his other future fight plans. During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, “Suga” went in a surprising direction with his post-fight media: roasting former champion Henry Cejudo.
The two have traded verbal blows in the past, but they’ve never been booked to fight. Furthermore, now that Cejudo has lost two straight, he’s fairly removed from the Bantamweight title picture, opting to call for a Brandon Moreno grudge match rather than challenge another ranked 135-pound contender.
Despite the circumstances, McAfee brought up “Triple C,” and O’Malley couldn’t help but unload some hate.
“That was a long time ago, when Henry did that,” O’Malley began, referencing a previous run-in with Cejudo. “That was a little bit more when he was relevant. Henry has got to be the number one dumbest, shortest champion that has ever lived. He’s so stupid! Every time he talks, I think he’s getting dumber. Dude is so stupid, and I cannot believe he won a championship belt.
“He talks and he talks, says some of the dumbest s—t ever. But yeah, that was a long time age, he’s really dumb and short — whatever.”
At this point, the chances of O’Malley and Cejudo ever colliding in the Octagon seem very slim. The only way anything comes of this beef is if one of these two men — who both live and train around Phoenix, Arizona — drives to the other’s training room and throws down!
Maybe “Suga” could knock out another UFC champion in the gym?
Insomnia
Dustin Poirier deserves all his flowers after the awesome Benoit Saint Denis knockout.
Dustin Poirier became the 13th fighter to compete 30 times in the UFC at UFC 299.
He has the highest winning % among those fighters.
He has competed every calendar year since his pro debut in 2009.
Longevity! pic.twitter.com/QkYaU0ZZj2
— Andy Hickey MMA (@AndyHickeyMMA) March 11, 2024
We’ve seen enough randoms get low kicked by professional fighters. Who’s going to be the first idiot fan to volunteer for a Jon Jones oblique kick?!?
Shavkat Rakhmonov is ice cold.
I respect your courage and confidence Jack, but you will face the same fate as my previous opponents
— Shavkat “Nomad” Rakhmonov (@Rakhmonov1994) March 10, 2024
A pair of very skilled Bantamweight veterans with very different styles will throw down!
Jon Anik was right, these people suck. You know with 100% certainty that if any of them happened across Arman Tsarukyan randomly on the street, they’d compliment his last win and ask for a selfie.
There’s only two people (that I can think of) it could be …
Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson got its own terrible SNL joke — a special honor.
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Never saw it coming …
Here’s one way to end a round in emphatic fashion!
This is probably the best spinning back kick KO I’ve ever seen. It reminds me of Renan Barao!
Random Land
This guy reacted to the most terrifying kind of accident like I react to traffic.
Midnight Music: Folk, 2003
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
