Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Jake Paul and Francis Ngannou have more in common than you might think at first glance.
Currently, Ngannou is arguably the greatest free agent in combat sports, a status he achieved by battling his UFC contract in hopes of a top boxing match. Just before Ngannou officially scored his own freedom, Paul stepped away from his status as another massive free agent by signing a massive deal with the Professional Fighter’s League (PFL) as the host of his own eventual MMA debut. .
Before all of this, Paul and Ngannou aligned themselves on issues such as fighter compensation and athlete health. They discussed a potential fighters union, and there aren’t many other fighters capable of headlining boxing and MMA pay-per-view (PPV) events. Hell, they might both end up fighting members of the Fury family!
Is this all perfect for a business partnership? Paul revealed that this team, PFL and Ngannou are all in talks to work together, and he thinks it could be a perfect fit for ‘The Predator’.
“Hopefully [Ngannou signs with PFL], I think it’s the best thing for him. Jake Paul said on MMA hour (via Josh Evanoff). “Honestly. I don’t think there’s a better place for him than the PFL. Working with these guys, working with my team, we can do huge things.
He continued: “So we have been in talks and he knows what we have to offer. And, we will respect and appreciate him no matter what. But we are here and ready to work.
This weekend, Jake Paul will finally face Tommy Fury in the main event of the ESPN+ And FITE+ pay-per-view (PPV) boxing event this Sunday (February 26, 2023) from Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. Ngannou, meanwhile, is pursuing elite boxers like Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua, but his MMA plans remain unclear.
Insomnia
Gunnar Nelson vs. Bryan Barberena? It really feels like a match straight from 2017.
I don’t really believe Ciryl Gane’s laziness story either. Lazy heavyweights can’t go five rounds!
Click for an entire thread of clips and descriptions of Tatiana Suarez’s wrestling prowess! His return to action is perhaps the biggest story of UFC Vegas 70.
so Tatiana comes down for a single leg, and this time knocks her knees together to immobilize her
She then reaches Grasso’s opposite leg and pops her head out, knocking it to the other side and completing the takedown.
Now she looks like a consistent striker and has shown pic.twitter.com/RtkxBrCYaV— (@DiamondElbows) February 20, 2023
I’m going to offer an early prediction: Anthony Hernandez is going to put absolute pace on Edmen Shahbazyan.
It’s a fun game. Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Anthony Hernandez is agreed for May 20. Edmen looked good in a knockout victory in December. Hernandez has won three in a row and signed a new UFC contract in addition to that fight. Who do you have? pic.twitter.com/7jnKjPtg5r
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) February 22, 2023
Another fight announcement for good measure, this one a pivotal striker vs. grappler clash at 115 pounds.
Megan Olivi always enters the frame!
“The eyes, chico, they never lie!”
Slips, tears and KO clips
It has to be one of the ten craziest moments in UFC Heavyweight history. The Alistair Overeem UFC title hype train has DERAILED so passionately.
10 years ago this month: Antonio Silva knocks out Alistair Overeem in the third round of their grudge match. It was the fight that earned Bigfoot Silva a UFC heavyweight title shot against Cain Velasquez. Unfortunately Bigfoot has gone 1-10, 1 NC since beating Overeem pic.twitter.com/TJx9HeyAtl
— Shakiel Mahjouri (@Shak_Fu) February 21, 2023
It’s been a while since we’ve had a highlighted knockout reel:
It’s a really weird final sequence, with the only sort of referee calling a knockdown, which then produced another knockdown.
Random terrain
Yosemite National Park’s famous El Capitan has peeled off a bit.
Midnight Music: SOMEBODY LET TYRON WOODLEY JUMP TO THIS BEAT NOW!
Sleep well fools! More martial arts madness is always on the way.
#Midnight #Mania #Jake #Paul #PFL #negotiations #Ngannou
