Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Let’s start the night off by taking a look back over the three biggest stories of Wednesday, May 7, 2025.
‘Of course’ Kayla Harrison was on steroids, says Julianna Pena, wants ‘weight bully’ to ‘cycle off’ for UFC 316: Women’s Bantamweight champion Julianna Pena has been accusing her UFC 316 opponent of being on the juice for about a year now, and she did it again.
‘Disheartened’ Alex Pereira blindsides fans and threatens to quit UFC (he was hacked): So, this was very weird and random. Alex Pereira tweeted out that he was disheartened by a phone call from the UFC, and then two hours later claimed he was hacked.
UFC 315 ticket sales struggling just days before showtime—‘About 50 percent sold’ (Updated): This morning, it was reported that UFC 315 ticket sales weren’t the best before it goes down on Saturday. However, UFC officials confirmed to MMAMania.com that UFC 315 is more than 92 percent sold.
Insomnia
Former Bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt has been booked against Raoni Barcelos for UFC Atlanta, which goes down on June 14, 2025.
Garbrandt has been out of action since his second-round submission loss at UFC 300 last year, while Barcelos is coming off a huge upset win over much hyped prospect Payton Talbott.
Speaking about “No Love,” he’s had a couple of new hairstyles.
Cory Sandhagen and Petr Yan have been chirping at one another over a potential rematch and who deserves the title shot. I’d happily watch it again, but I think the Sandhagen title shot and Yan vs. Umar are the best bookings available if Merab Dvalishvili retains his crown.
While on the “Sandman” topic, here’s a breakdown of how Deiveson Figueiredo’s knee was injured at UFC Des Moines.
Jean Silva is treating the MMA podcast scene in the appropriate fashion.
Daniel Cormier has defended his “daddest man on the planet” title no less than 300 times.
Brandon Moreno’s new ink is very clean!
Jeremy Stephens may not have won his last fight, but this diss track of Joe Pyfer means he’s a winner anyway.
I don’t think Jiri Prochazka is going to keep his hands up ever (praise be).
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Fell forward while throwing the overhand and paid the price:
One of those fight results that makes for a great trivia question.
The popularity of MMA and UFC has surely improved the average quality of street fights around the globe.
Random Land
Is this an example of genius and madness coming together? I love it.
Midnight Music: Soul, 1970
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.
