Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Though now retired, Roger Gracie is a pretty special athlete. He found solid success in the mixed martial arts (MMA) realm, competing in both Strikeforce and UFC before capturing a title in One Championship. On the mats, however, Gracie is widely known as the best ever — he’s won numerous gold medals in both ADCC and gi Worlds, submitting a great deal of elite opposition with so-called “basic” techniques like the x-choke from mount.
Per a report with Combate, his latest battle came against COVID-19, which the Brazilian contracted in March. “I got the virus, I recovered two weeks ago,” Gracie said. “I was really bad in bed. It is good to talk, because many people have no idea exactly what it is, they think it will not be affected, that it will never reach him. I stayed in bed for ten days, with 40 degrees of fever and cough. I felt short of breath one day, thankfully it didn’t progress. I woke up at dawn with a racing heart, short of breath. I called the ambulance, even got into it. They did the tests, called the chief of medicine and thought it best for me to stay home.”
“I was scared when it didn’t get better,” Gracie continued. “On the eighth day I was worried, because I thought I was getting better, the fever went down. The next day, [the virus] came back violent, I felt very weak, strange. Each person feels different. Most have a cold. My girlfriend also took it, stayed four days with 38 or 39 degrees of fever, weak, with body pain and passed. My fever was 40 degrees. I coughed all the time.”
Gracie is sharing his experience because he wants to emphasize the severity of the virus, and relay that even a healthy and active person in their 30s can be hit hard. “It’s good for people to know that I got it. There are a lot of friends that I talked to, who thought I wouldn’t take it because I was healthy, young. A lot of people are dying. A friend of a friend in Italy was a marathon runner, was 35 years old and died. My teacher’s girlfriend’s cousin is 30 years old and is hospitalized. And there are thousands that we don’t know. It is necessary to raise awareness. The disease really affects the most fragile, the oldest, but also other people. You cannot neglect. It’s not a joke.”
Gracie also confirmed that he is staying retired, focused fully on growing his academy, which now has over 50 franchises.
Insomnia
It’s time for the kickboxing super fight the fans have been demanding: Ariel vs. Ben Askren. Winner can face CM Punk!
A cut of Muay Thai history courtesy of John Wayne Parr:
Frank Mir still seems pretty agile for an older Heavyweight!
Shoutout Dustin Poirier!
A chance we must all be willing to take:
Mike Perry does not seem to be self-isolating — a Florida Man through and through.
Slips, rips, and KO clips
I have so many emotions watching this clip. Respect for the fallen Kimbo Slice. Laughter at the fact that “Rampage” Jackson picked Kimbo first on TUF years later when the man had no functional knees. Shock that Slice nearly locked up a guillotine choke at one point.
“Crusher” is a legend.
For my money, Rousimar Palhares is the most intimidating opponent in UFC history. That dude tore apart legs and put people on the bench for years!
Random Land
Water is cool. Slow-mo is cool. Add it up!
Midnight Music: Remain In Light is one of my favorite albums, and its biggest hit seems particularly relevant right now.
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.