Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Let’s start the night off by taking a look back over the three biggest stories of Monday, July 28, 2025.
- Why is Brock Lesnar banned from WWE? Former UFC champ’s legal ‘trouble’ explained: Retiring to the wilderness feels like a reasonable move for Lesnar at this stage in his life/career anyway. I expect a comeback in a few years at worst though.
- Two dead following car accident involving wife, son of UFC contender Shavkat Rakhmonov: Simply tragic news from Kazakhstan.
- UFC 320 backup fighter? Jiri Prochazka agrees to ditch Khalil Rountree, save Ankalaev-Pereira 2 … if needed: Jiri Prochazka absolutely deserves the back up slot, though it would be a shame to lose his surefire “Fight of the Night” versus Rountree.
Insomnia
Caio Borralho says he’s the official back up for UFC 319, which feels like a necessary role given Khamzat’s history of illness. However, Borralho also has a history of making things up, and Nassourdine Imavov isn’t impressed either way!
Backup? @BorralhoCaio good only to take my leftovers, you’ll always come after, you’ll always stay behind me. It’s your destiny!
— Imavov Nassourdine (@imavov1) July 28, 2025
People forget that Bethe Correia was unintentionally one of the funniest UFC fighters of all time.
Umar Nurmagomedov receives more flack for his broken hand than most, but I do think he should be at least two fights from another title shot.
Petr Yan digs at Umar Nurmagomedov for inactivity:
“Umar lost his last fight and he hasn’t fought since. They have an opportunity to wait and not train for six months.
But I need to stay active. I have to pave my own way through hard work. No brothers or sisters gave me… pic.twitter.com/IYqgxboHCQ
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) July 27, 2025
Reinier de Ridder vs. Dricus du Plessis would create MMA sequences never before seen by the human eye.
This is genuinely a very cool way to counter spinning kicks, as well as an effective deterrent. Nobody wants to get thrown on their head!
Cory Sandhagen responds to internet doubters:
Slips, rips, and KO clips
My favorite thing about backyard fistfights is the random stances of amateur streetfighters.
A name to remember ahead of the next Contenders Series season.
Javier Reyes (21-5) will compete on Dana White’s Contender Series this season, sources say.
The Colombian is @Tapology’s No. 1 P4P regional fighter in North America atm pic.twitter.com/RUNuR4b8eg
— Nolan King (@mma_kings) July 27, 2025
Being really tall and throwing lots of knees is the new MMA meta.
Random Land
A boxing throwback … he really crow hopped into that haymaker!
Midnight Music: Classic rock, 1970
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.
