Midnight Mania! Gleeful Dana White reacts to rumored demise of Showtime boxing: ‘It’s about time!’

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

There’s no love lost between UFC CEO Dana White and Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinoza. The two worked together back in 2017 to promote the Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather boxing super fight, which sold an absurd amount of pay-per-view (PPV) buys and made everyone involved wild amounts of money. Despite the success of the event, the two have disputed numbers and taken shots at one another ever since.

White’s general distaste for the boxing scene probably doesn’t help the situation much. Consequently, White didn’t seem too upset when he was asked about the rumors that Showtime was leaving the boxing game entirely.

“That’s incredibly unfortunate. Production of that show was fantastic. The guy who runs showtime boxing is a great human being. It’s unfortunate to hear this,” White began with a barely concealed grin on his face.

“F—k Espinoza. It’s about time that shitty product was off the air.”

Not exactly a gracious victory dance, but then, Espinoza hasn’t been afraid to throw the occasional low blow in White’s direction either. Furthermore, White did still express interest in entering the boxing game and possibly taking advantage of the opening, so perhaps Zuffa Boxing is finally ready to take center stage?

Insomnia

If you were excited to watch PFL Paris this weekend, no you weren’t!

Unfortunate #PFLParis update: There will NOT be a stream available for U.S. audience.@PFLMMA officials tell me there was a miscommunication regarding the availability of pre-fight activities and the actual fight card but have confirmed there is no stream of event.

— John Morgan (@JohnMorgan_MMA) September 26, 2023

Korean Zombie deserves all the love.

Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria could be happening in just a few short months.

Rafael Fiziev seems to be in good spirits after an

Can Andrei Arlovski turn away another unranked Heavyweight prospect? He gets it done more often than not.

The most shocking of these was definitely Kevin Holland landing an inside trip in the fifth round!

Khamzat Chimaev vs. Sean Strickland could be an interesting fight, former Welterweights colliding for the 185-pound belt.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Yup, that’s a contract-winning KO if I’ve ever seen one.

Taking the cross downstairs then bringing the hook high afterwards is as classic as it gets.

Elite kickboxers taking lumps out of each other:

Former ONE Kickboxing champion Capitan faces Nuenglanlek, for the third time this Saturday, at the 2023 RWS Super Lightweight Finals.

Their previous encounter earlier this year was a bangerpic.twitter.com/bP1XrFsRpp

— Cerebral Vigilante (@Delisketo) September 25, 2023

Random Land

Komodo dragons are gnarly creatures.

The Komodo dragon is the largest extant species of lizard & can eat up to 80% of its body weight in one meal

While it mostly eats carrion, the view of a goat that gets swallowed in one bite is truly impressive

[ Ngasu Media]pic.twitter.com/ExQfjIjNV3

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 25, 2023

Midnight Music: Indie, 2021

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