Welcome to Midnight Mania!

MMA fighters and betting is a hot topic at the moment. Until quite recently, fighters could — and often did — openly bet on themselves or their team mates, occasionally with disastrous results. Retired UFC fighter and current Glory MMA head coach James Krause even started selling his betting selections due to all his success!

As a result of that publicity and the general legal murkiness of it all, UFC recently banned athletes from betting in its official Code of Conduct agreement. However, maybe that’s only true on the official sports books, because the recent ban didn’t stop Welterweight contender from gambling on Twitter with manager Ali Abdelaziz.

The reasoning here is simple. UFC 280 pit Burns’ friend and fellow Brazilian, Charles Oliveira, against Makhachev’s client, Islam Makhachev, in the main event. Burns backed his boy online, and when called out by Abdelaziz, “Durinho” put his money where his mouth is. Or at least, he offered to, although Abdelaziz didn’t exactly accept.

UFC 280 concluded on Saturday, and Makhachev was named champion following a clean second-round submission win over “Do Bronx” (HIGHLIGHTS). After the outcome, Abdelaziz followed up on Twitter. Burns proved himself a man of his word — even on an unconfirmed bet? — and paid quickly.

Fortunately, Abdelaziz proved a good sport and didn’t seem to actually want Burns’ money. He replied to the Brazilian, “keep your money” and “Brother Muslim can’t beat [sic] you know this.” Given Abdelaziz just added another champion to his extensive roster of clients, the Dominance MMA Management CEO likely can do without Burns’ cash!

Insomnia

Shockingly, Conor McGregor isn’t impressed by the likely showdown between Alexander Volkanovski and Islam Makhachev.

… and “The Great” responds in smart fashion.

Please don’t tell me UFC is trying to book Khamzat Chimaev vs. Jorge Masvidal. Who wants to see that?

Size comparisons aside, the sparring rounds between Alex Pereira and Dominick Reyes have to be a ton of fun to watch.

The poster has dropped for the Bellator vs. Rizin New Year’s Eve event. Who’s staying up?!?

Khabib was most of us watching UFC 280 …

Is Islam Makhachev the man who can retain the Lightweight belt for more than two fights? It doesn’t ever get easy at 155 lbs.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

JZ Cavalcante landed a sweet guillotine on former Bellator title challenger Rick Hawn, but like … what year is it again?

A lovely example of attacking the triangle and armbar simultaneously:

Imagine brutally ripping apart a grown black belt’s ACL on Sunday and then having to show up for first period chemistry on Monday.

Random Land

I will never pass the chance to post Yosemite content.

Midnight Music: For reasons unknown, my entire Spotify Discover playlist was EXTREMELY GRUNGY this week. Could be worse!

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.