Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Let’s start the night off by taking look back over the three biggest stories of Tuesday, July 8, 2025.
- Un-retired and not champion Jon Jones is happy to ‘be the hunter, not the hunted’ – ‘Feels nice’: Every Jon Jones quote is worse than the last. It has to be intentional. Nobody can be this irritating by accident, right?
- Pic: UFC Nashville’s Junior Tafa is completely transformed ahead of Light Heavyweight debut: It’ll be very interesting to see if Tafa is a better defensive grappler at 205-pounds. He’s certainly a nasty puncher!
- Mystified Max Holloway wants out of ‘ridiculous’ rankings ahead of UFC 318 — ‘What the hell is going on?’: The official UFC rankings leaving fighters in multiple divisions after they’ve left one is indeed a plague.
Insomnia
Shavkat Rakhmonov deserves his title shot, but also, the division is moving forward as his injury heals. Tough spot …
Shavkat Rakhmonov wants to fight for the title and isn’t interested in any ‘intermediate fights’
“The situation is difficult, I’m waiting to see who will fight for the title. Perhaps we’ll go straight to the title fight, even next year…
I’m waiting. I don’t want to waste my… pic.twitter.com/Z1O4GRdhe0
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) July 8, 2025
A pair of all-action Flyweight up-and-comers will throw down at Noche UFC! It’s good to see Edgar Chairez getting another highlight after putting on an absolute banger in the Sphere last year.
Charles Johnson is NOT impressed by Ramazan Temirov’s recent drug test failure or explanation for it.
I spent 20 months of my life in Thailand. Had multiple cases of Staph infection, yellow bumps scabs all over, hole in skin.
I’ve never taken anything illegal in my life. No fuckin excuse
— Charles “InnerG” Johnson (@innerGmma_ufc) July 8, 2025
So The dude who stopped my 4 fight win streak just popped for steroids
I’m not surprised…
Yes, a sample might’ve been clean during fight week, these guys are scientist.
Now, what about my opportunities, my half of pay, peace of mind, I need more info.. Where’s the B sample? pic.twitter.com/DGxC2fE1wK
— Charles “InnerG” Johnson (@innerGmma_ufc) July 8, 2025
I don’t feel like Sean O’Malley was too guilty of KO-hunting in either Merab fight, but I’m curious what adjustments he’ll make moving forward.
Cory Sandhagen believes Sean O’Malley can no longer rely on one-shot knockouts
“O’Malley gets labelled as a star first before he gets labelled as a good fighter. He has to change a few things, not in his personal life but in his actual fighting style. He got away for a long… pic.twitter.com/PEevT9fzzk
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) July 5, 2025
Arman Tsarukyan claims Ilia Topuria is a chronic weight misser … but not when it counts.
Another fun fact: Topuria regularly misses weight. So spare us the fairytales about fighting with one arm. You pulled out from fighting Charles Jourdain, hermanito… pic.twitter.com/mtiPvrKbfE
— Arman Tsarukyan UFC (@ArmanUfc) July 5, 2025
RIZIN posters are absolutely top-tier. I would hang this!
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Anyone who watched the golden days of Bellator remembers Alexander Shlemenko, a serious badass by any standard.
Fail a takedown, look at the ground, whip an overhand — works every time!
Danny Roberts has an unfortunate habit of getting knocked cold in unpleasant ways.
Random Land
Happy Gilmore vibes.
Midnight Music: Post-punk, 1989
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
