Welcome to Midnight Mania!
UFC 264 is fast-approaching. The pay-per-view event is scheduled for July 10, 2021 and headlined by the rubber match between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. As the two have split their previous pair of bouts, there’s plenty of film to review and lots of lessons to be learned.
Of course, with McGregor tasting defeat far more recently, the onus is on “The Notorious” to make the largest adjustments. Per top Welterweight contender and Karate Kid Stephen Thompson, the most important key is that McGregor returns to his traditional martial arts roots and move “like a Karate guy.”
“I think the person that has to do more changing of the fighters is definitely Conor,” Thompson told Submission Radio (via MMAJunkie). “I mean, Dustin Poirier has been fighting pretty much the same way for the longest time. He’s got great boxing, good timing, he’s tough as nails, he likes to sit in the pocket, and he’s intelligent. I think he (Conor) kind of lost something in his last fight. I think it was all the boxing that he was doing. He doesn’t have that movement anymore that you normally saw. Like when he fought Jose Aldo, it was the movement that won him that fight. And he was kind of standing there in front of Dustin Poirier, and he took a lot of low calf kicks, and that’s what settled it, sealed the deal.
“So, he’s got to get back into moving like a karate guy. He’s got to get back into getting on his bike, using that in-and-out movement, switching sides, playing that game if he’s going to go out there and beat him again. Because he can draw out Dustin Poirier’s strikes with his movement. And him being such a good counter puncher, (he) can counter off of that. So out of the two, Conor’s got to get back to that. So, don’t know how hard that is and how long he’s been doing the boxing stuff, but he’s got to get out of that and get back to his movement. If he can do that, Conor can win.”
Karate Conor vs. Boxer Conor was a popular meme after McGregor’s loss, but it’s just been verified by one of the sport’s best strikers! It remains to be seen what adjustments McGregor will make ahead of this battle, nor can we count out Poirier pulling another trick from up his sleeves.
2.5 weeks to go.
Insomnia
Is Kamaru Usman copying Conor McGregor’s swag?
Speaking of Usman, Nate Diaz is already angling to fight the champion despite his recent losses, and who knows, maybe it’ll happen!
Brandon Moreno deserves a Lego sponsorship.
It is confirmed: spinning sh*t > modern firearms.
Beth Correia has been rebooked for a retirement fight opposite Karol Rosa. Does she call it quits on a win?
It takes a good bit of work for Amanda Nunes to cut down to 135 lbs., which has to be a big part of the reason she wants to keep Featherweight around.
Slips, rips, and KO clips
The classic “look at the referee to pressure him into a stoppage/standup/separation” is used because it works!
Come for the sweat blasting off this dude’s head, stay for the insanity that immediately follows.
Securing the triangle from mouth without rolling to one’s back is pretty impressive!
Random Land
I have to agree with one of the comments; this feels like a Grand Theft Auto bit.
Midnight Music: Shoutout to Spotify for introducing me to the “King of the Surf Guitar,” an early 60s artifact as cool as it sounds.
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.