Welcome to Midnight Mania!
UFC 287, scheduled for April 8 at an unannounced location, is starting to take shape. Last week, Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya and Jorge Masvidal vs. Gilbert Burns were announced as the main and co-main event. Now, a pair of ranked welterweights have also been added to the card, as grappling ace Michael Chiesa takes on knockout artist Li Jingliang (h/t MMAJunkie).
Chiesa announced the fight itself Friday on “UFC Live.”
Times have been a little tough for “Maverick”, who last fought in November 2021. He lost his last two fights to rising contenders (at the time) Sean Brady and Vicente Luque. Prior to those losses, Chiesa had won four straight fights to enter the fray, knocking out names like Neil Magny and Carlos Condit. Jingliang has been more active, splitting a pair of fights in 2022. His last bout brought a controversial split decision loss to Daniel Rodriguez, but before that fall, “The Leech” stopped Muslim Salikhov in the second round.
Chiesa is sure to chase takedowns and submissions, while Jingliang will be aiming to score another knockout win. What man does it in April?
Insomnia
Is Tommy Fury about to play a breakaway number for the third time? I’d rather see Mike Perry step in anyway!
Tommy Fury is scared. I told my team that he couldn’t attend the launch press conference next week in Saudi Arabia because he needed more time to train. You thought you wouldn’t even need to train to fight me? You and your daddy are scared. #MikePerry
—Jake Paul (@jakepaul) February 3, 2023
Conor McGregor offers to help get Katie Taylor’s next fight setup at Croke Park.
Twitter’s new policies may affect the UFC Roster Watch account, a loss to the MMA community and certainly this column. Boo!
Preparing for a short-notice UFC fight with performance-enhancing drugs in your system is a risky game to play.
Handy Abdelwahab has accepted a two-year sanction from USADA following two positive methenolone tests.
The Texas state commission may also issue a penalty in the future.
Details pic.twitter.com/QywhTHXiEe
—Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) February 3, 2023
Cory Sandhagen is working with the best to prepare for Marlon Vera.
Cory Sandhagen is trained by former two-weight Lumpinee champion and current ONE Flyweight Kickboxing champion Superlek Kiatmookao. pic.twitter.com/EAV1KIVZb4
— Beyond Kickboxing (@Beyond_Kick) February 3, 2023
A little banter between champions:
15 years ago, the UFC’s restrictive contracts cost them another all-time great heavyweight.
Recently, Dana White has come under increasing criticism over contract terms and fighters’ pay.
Here’s Fedor Emelianenko explaining why he couldn’t sign with the UFC in 2007 pic.twitter.com/ktoImQcKET
— The Obsessed Octagon (@octagonobsessed) February 3, 2023
Slips, tears and KO clips
Add this to the long, long list of shitty ways to lose an MMA fight. Ouch!
A classic case of a left kick to the liver crippling a man’s entire body – it doesn’t get old!
A wild trade in right hands ends the night early.
Random terrain
Don’t steal things.
Midnight Music: Soul, 1972
Sleep well fools! More martial arts madness is always on the way.
#Midnight #Mania #Chiesa #Jingliang #added #UFC
