Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Look, I don’t want to keep writing Stephen A. Smith’s name and help justify his massive ESPN salary with more attention. My hand is forced though, because retired UFC fighter and American Top Team coach Din Thomas’s parody of Smith is perfection.
Smith raised the ire of fans last weekend at UFC 246 when he buried Donald Cerrone after his loss, arguing that “Cowboy” cracked under pressure and gave up. The claims were ridiculous then, but the reveal that Conor McGregor broke Cerrone’s face in the short bout made them even goofier in retrospect.
Facing criticism for his harsh words on a topic that is not his forte, Smith did the only reasonable thing: recruit a boxing trainer who clearly has no idea what he’s doing and grab the nearest camera. I don’t know what the intended goal was, but the result was comedy, and Din Thomas expanded upon it wonderfully.
Insomnia
Matt Brown is one of the few fighters I won’t roll my eyes at for calling himself a spartan. Dude is stupid tough.
Speaking of roasted, Khabib Nurmagomedov is pretty effective with simple trash talk.
Dominick Cruz’s pivots are so clean.
Never too much spinning!
This new meme format is very applicable to MMA, and I’m here for it.
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Lean back!
It’s never easy to deal with clean Southpaw boxing.
A really well setup head kick followed by knees — it’s all in the feints!
Random Land
Little known fact: bocce ball, a game of power and finesse, is the official Mania Meet Up sport of choice.
Midnight Music: If it weren’t for Swans, Daughters’ album You Won’t Get What You Want would be my favorite noise rock album of the last decade. A frightening, heavy, and brilliantly written record, YWGWYW is the sound of mental collapse.
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.