Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Rafael dos Anjos appears to be entering a new stage of his career. For the last ten years, he’s faced nothing but top contenders, enduring a grueling schedule against elite opposition. He won the Lightweight championship, but since losing that crown, “RDA” has remained committed to hunting gold at either Welterweight or Lightweight.
His last result, a knockout loss to Rafael Fiziev, seemingly ended his quest for Lightweight gold. It’s a brutal cut for the 38 year old, and he’s since relocated back to Welterweight. He’s now scheduled to face Bryan Barberena this weekend at UFC Orlando, and while Barberena is a hard-nosed scrapper, it’s a definite step back compared to all of his recent ranked opposition.
Despite the apparent transition to 170-pounds, dos Anjos is actually willing to drop back to Lightweight for the right match up — even if chasing the belt is no longer on the table.
“Just for some specific fights I have in mind, I’d (drop to lightweight) again,” dos Anjos told reporters (via MMA Junkie). “I don’t have plans to win the title in that division anymore, I’ll be honest with you. A couple guys that if it’s in good momentum for me and my personal life as well, I’ll take the fight. As of now, I have Bryan Barberena this Saturday and I’m staying at welterweight.”
Notably, dos Anjos has quite a bit of history with current Lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev. Both men have been forced to withdraw from planned bouts with one another previously, and the result has been a fair bit of Twitter trash talk. When Makhachev failed to step up on short-notice against “RDA,” it nearly cost him his title shot!
Despite the past beef, dos Anjos is uninterested in chasing the champion. It sounds like the Brazilian has moved on!
“We were scheduled to fight a couple times, but I got injured (and) he pulled out on fight week, as well,” dos Anjos explained. “We had a chance to fight at welterweight. He threw his name out there. I accepted the fight. He didn’t take it and (Renato) Moicano took it. I wouldn’t be sad (if we don’t fight).”
Insomnia
Song Yadong is getting back in action after his broken orbital injury.
Sean Brady is good, and Belal Muhammad stopped him with strikes. Leave the guy alone!
This reads strangely like a Dana White comment for a guy who talks endlessly about the respectful culture of martial arts.
.@yodchatri tells me at ONE 164 press conference in Manila that he will strip Arjan Bhullar of heavyweight title if he doesn’t fight soon.
“I want to be respectful. But I think he’s scared.”#ONEChampionship
— Nicolas Atkin (@NicoSCMP) November 30, 2022
A minor shake up to UFC 282’s undercard:
Any fight fan worth his salt should remember Jorge Masvidal getting inverted triangle choked back in the day, but most of these were a surprise to me!
There is no way this should be allowed to happen. Hopefully, the New Mexico commission looks out for Diego Sanchez, because this sounds like unnecessary damage.
SOURCE: Former boxing world champ Austin Trout to face former UFC vet Diego Sanchez on expected Bare Knuckle FC Feb. card in Albuquerque, NM.
The all-New Mexico bout pinning the longtime Las Cruces resident, Trout & native Burqueño, Sanchez will surely be main event on Feb. card pic.twitter.com/Sz4m3KBQZu
— Jorge Hernández (@JorgeDeBurque) November 30, 2022
How long until Luke Rockhold steps into the boxing ring?
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Another great edit of a back-and-forth scrap!
Kicking with power from the back foot is such a sweet skill! It’s even more difficult in MMA, where even a tiny error in timing can result in a takedown.
Taio Asahisa is a master at hiding his left kick (front or round)
On the last one, the set up is so beautiful (left hand to hide the kick but also to mesure the distance) but the technique is simply flawless. Rarely seen such a step back head kick with that much power behind it. pic.twitter.com/WpUnvChP6v— Sweet Punch Memories (@SPM_staff) November 28, 2022
This could’ve been waved off after the high kick.
Random Land
Unsettling.
Midnight Music: Post-punk, 2022
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.
