Midnight Mania! Beneil Dariush vs. Arman Tsarukyan targeted for UFC 296

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

UFC 296 already features a pair of title fights, but it may have just gotten even more stacked. Scheduled for Dec. 16, 2023 inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the final pay-per-view (PPV) event of the year is also the targeted home of a pivotal Lightweight clash between Beneil Dariush and Arman Tsarukyan. The bout remains unsigned, but Dariush confirmed with CBS Sports’ Luke Thomas that he accepted the contest, and his management his said the bout is happening as well.

Tsarukyan has been calling for the fight for a while as well, so the coast looks clear for another brilliant Lightweight match up.

Dariush currently stands as the No. 4-ranked Lightweight contender, but his tremendous win streak fell apart earlier this year at the hands of former champion Charles Oliveira. Prior to that loss, Dariush beat up the likes of Tony Ferguson and Mateusz Gamrot to build an eight-fight win streak and break into the Top Five, so it’s far too early to count him out of the title mix just yet.

As for Tsarukyan, the 26-year-old talent is ranked at No. 8 in the world. Winner of seven of his last eight, Tsarukyan’s only loss in the last few years came in the form of a controversial decision to highly-ranked Mateusz Gamrot. He very much looks the part of a future champion, and he has in-cage history with current kingpin Islam Makhachev already.

One man will leave the cage ranked in the Top Five, closing in on a title shot. Who gets it done?

Insomnia

Is Bruce Buffer being a playable character the factor that will push you over the edge in buying the latest UFC video game?

Ray Cooper, a career Welterweight that excels at knocking people out late, versus Derek Brunson, career Middleweight who is a top-notch wrestler, is a rather intriguing if unexpected match up.

Marcus McGhee has impressed in his short UFC career, and Gaston Bolanos is a world-class kickboxer. Should be fun!

Chimaev is talking trash to Costa’s girlfriend, which is lame 100% of the time.

I gonna report this harassment by Gourmet Chen Chen towards my girlfriend/future mother of my childres and manager. I felt threatened by this handsome guy calling her on dmplease @Tamaraalves2 Don’t be fooled by that beautiful face inshala pic.twitter.com/ImCOLF1qQ7

— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) October 6, 2023

Is Mike Perry the most quotable man in combat sports right now?

In this instance, I do believe Georges St. Pierre was impressed by his performance.

Matt Brown lets it rip:

Luke Rockhold is back to the modeling world.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

This really is a video game combo. Beautiful power shots between stances!

Roy Jones Jr. could double up with same-side punches like few others.

A very cool angle on this elbow knockdown:

Random Land

Gotta commit!

Midnight Music: New wave, 1982

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