Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Let’s start the night off by taking a look back over the three biggest stories of Monday, Oct. 20, 2025.
- Reinier de Ridder’s coach releases statements after UFC Vancouver towel toss: “RDR” took an ugly loss over the weekend, but throwing in the towel was absolutely the right call.
- Confused Sean O’Malley reacts to UFC Vancouver callout, Aiemann Zahabi insists they’re ‘setting it up’: I get that “Suga” needs to rebound, but I can’t imagine the UFC books a somewhat risky opponent given the lack of name value.
- Shavkat Rakhmonov’s manager shares timeline for ‘Nomad’ return: I cannot wait until Rakhmonov is back in the Welterweight mix. People have forgotten how nasty he is …
Insomnia
F—king crazy! Max Holloway is open to boxing after his UFC career, but you won’t see the Hawaiian legend stepping into the bare knuckle or Power Slap arenas.
Click
through for an entire thread on the career and accomplishments of Duke Roufus. RIP!
There are strong rumors from multiple sources claiming that Ilia Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett is next. Still unconfirmed, to be clear, but this feels like a logical next step for the Lightweight division (sorry Justin).
Old school strength and conditioning.
Petr Yan has some of the best setups in the sport, bar none.
76-year-old Ric Flair reminding everyone to hit their deadlifts this week.
Derek Brunson is really enjoying the revived beef with Kevin Holland.
Slips, rips, and KO clips
A David vs. Goliath moment with an absolutely grotesque ending (I’ve chosen not to include the detached ankle footage, but it’s easy to find in the replies to the finish itself).
Punches in bunches put away a wounded opponent.
Every single punch in bare knuckle has the potential to instantly end the fight in a way that just isn’t true of other combat sports.
Random Land
Today, the Louvre was robbed in broad daylight in just seven minutes via … a ladder.
Midnight Music: Indie, 2013
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.
