Midnight Mania! Horiguchi Withdraws From UFC Baku Return, Replaced By Kazakh Killer
Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Let’s start the night off by taking look back over the three biggest stories of Monday, March 19, 2025.
- Jon Jones blames UFC for lack of concrete fight news: ‘I told them my plans a long time ago’: I have to wonder if this is another Khabib situation, in which Dana White is trying to convince a retiring fighter to step back into the cage?
- Full list of Khamzat Chimaev injuries, withdrawals ahead of UFC 319 title fight: Khamzat’s hype and momentum surviving THIS amount of injury and illness is genuinely impressive. 9/10 elite fighters would be forgotten about in similar situations!
- Chaos in camp? UFC 317’s Ilia Topuria reportedly ditches coaches ahead of super rare ‘double champ’ chance: There’s something to be said for sticking with what got you to the dance in the first place.
Insomnia
Absolute bummer alert! Kyoji Horiguchi is injured and off the UFC Baku card, so Tagir Ulanbekov will instead face Azat Maksum, the 15-1 Kazakh prospect who recently lost a “Fight of the Night” to Charles Johnson. At least it’s still a banger?
K.Horiguchi out. Tagir Ulanbekov will now fight Azat Maksum at #UFCBaku on June 21st. (first rep. @RedCorner_MMA) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2025 pic.twitter.com/Nn7HYXAsrF
— Marcel Dorff (@BigMarcel24) May 19, 2025
Jon Jones loves trolling the fanbase so much. Even if the general emotion is anger, “Bones” has people invested in his next fight … if it happens.
Jon Jones reveals his upcoming plan in a series of tweets:
Jones: "To continue to monetize on this amazing brand that I've created."
Fan: "So are you fighting again or not?"
Jones: "Not a bad idea." #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/RN2qG2aYH7
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 19, 2025
Do you have a problem with Tim Welch’s tactic of coaching the opposing fighter? All’s fair in love and war in my book.
Merab Dvalishvili’s coach plans to talk to the referees, as Tim Welch distracts opponents by yelling at them.
"Tim's a good coach, I like Tim personally. Do I think it's stupid? Absolutely. I guess maybe they think it worked for the Aljo fight, so it's something we're gonna… pic.twitter.com/AoAZ7mcMWk
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) May 19, 2025
Prediction: Jiri Prochazka ends up a well-paid prime minister’s body guard after his UFC career.
Jiri Prochazka has shared that he’s almost finished acquiring his masters degree
His subjects are:
▫️ Criminology
▫️ Management + Marketing for Security Forces
▫️ Professional Self Defence
▫️ English
▫️ A thesis on blood analysis before and after high altitude training pic.twitter.com/tHCBXYgp4l— ACD MMA (@acdmma_) May 19, 2025
Heavyweight has never been the deepest division, but it didn’t used to be quite so dire.
13 years ago today, Daniel Cormier fought Josh Barnett in the finals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix. We didn't know it at the time, but this might've been a part of a heavyweight golden era, at least relative to today.
Here are the heavyweight rankings at that time. pic.twitter.com/rox77cWmtC
— Luke Thomas ️♀️ (@lthomasnews) May 19, 2025
My wife’s family coerced me into going trail riding with them a few weeks ago, and I spent the whole trip mildly terrified I was going to shatter my collar bone. Be careful champ!
️ ️Islam Makhachev spends his weekends climbing mountains on his motorcycle.
IG / salim__85▫️ pic.twitter.com/lCfBNynDEc
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) May 18, 2025
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Standing submissions only in a kickboxing gloves is a bizarre rule set. Honestly, I was expecting worse based on the description …
Mixed-rules gone wrong. Earlier today, a special MAS Fight bout went down: one 9-minute round, win by knockout or standing submission only—with a referee seemingly out of his depth on MMA and submission rules. pic.twitter.com/aqj19NNmWz
— Beyond Kickboxing (@Beyond_Kick) May 18, 2025
A Saenchai-style cartwheel kick KO!
Cartwheel kick finish by Khasan Bakhalaev pic.twitter.com/E8Ja50dDpX
— Matysek (@Matysek88) May 18, 2025
I love how relaxed Rafael Fiziev is while punches are flying in his direction.
Posting a HEADKICK KO EVERYDAY for one year! (282/365)
Rafael Fiziev vs Nandin-Erdene#UFC #MMATwitter #UFCVegas106 pic.twitter.com/TWkXC0DvbV
— The MMA Mark (@TheMMA8Ball_) May 18, 2025
Random Land
I’d like to see a slower time lapse.
Incredibile self body painting
[ millybampainti]pic.twitter.com/R9v7WnQCnE
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) May 17, 2025
Midnight Music: Country, 1983
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.
More from mmamania.com:
- Miocic Responds To Pressure From White And Cormier
- White On ‘Possibly’ Stripping Miocic
- UFC 249 Embedded: Rousey Nearly Knocked Out Cruz?
- Midnight Mania! Sterling Vs. Sandhagen Possible June 6 Headliner
- UFC 249 Odds, Under Dogs And Best Bets!
- Khabib Plans July Return, Vows To ‘Smash Them All’
- Video! Jacare Breaks Social Distancing Rules Prior To UFC 249 Removal
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