Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Robert Whittaker is still at least a bit annoyed at how Daniel Cormier handled his loss to Khamzat Chimaev.
The result was already a tough one for “The Reaper,” who was riding a serious win streak into his high-profile battle vs. “Borz.” After fending off the grappling assault for a couple minutes, Chimaev found his way to the back and instantly tapped Whittaker with a face crank. The quick submission was soon explained: Whittaker’s bottom row of teeth had imploded, due to both Khamzat’s impressive squeeze and some former jaw injuries.
In the immediate aftermath, it was Cormier who released the photos of Whittaker’s bloody mouth online. In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Whittaker revealed he never gave Cormier — or anyone else — permission to share those photos on social media and was a bit bothered by the whole thing.
“I was super annoyed. It’s such a scummy thing to do… DC took a photo off the other guys phone to post all over socials… Is that not scummy?”
Robert Whittaker on DC posting his mouth injury after UFC 308. pic.twitter.com/rS6trgKwaU
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 22, 2025
“I was super annoyed,” Whittaker explained. “Because it’s such a scummy thing to do. The doctor took a photo of my mouth and said, ‘I’m just going to go show Dana so that he knows what’s up, Dana and Hunter [Campbell].’ Cool, do that. And then DC took a photo off the other guy’s phone to post all over socials. Is that not scummy?”
He continued, “I don’t care that much … most people would say it kind of looked really bad, right? Cause it was posted all over the place, I was getting like condolence messages! People thought I was dead. I would’ve liked to control the reaction a little better, but it is what it is.”
It’s hard to listen to Whittaker’s side of the story and not immediately think HIPAA! Of course, we’re discussing an Australian cage fighter and retired color commentator not a US-based doctor-patient relationship, but the situation still feels like a violation of Whittaker’s privacy. It’s certainly not a great way to treat a well-respected and highly decorated former champion.
Insomnia
Charles Oliveira (and his birds) show off their crib!
UFC star Charles Oliveira showed his garden: fruit palms, a pond with fish, a swimming pool, a birdhouse with tropical birds.
“We made a pond, like in American mansions. Everyone knows I love parrots. One day, a man came to our house: “I need to talk to Charles. Not a photo. My… pic.twitter.com/MTkNp9RzyM
— PAM (@ParamPam1990) January 22, 2025
Of the current Bantamweight elite, I’d give Cory Sandhagen as good a chance as anyone at defeating Merab Dvalishvili (which is to say, I’d still pick Merab). A perfectly timed jump knee seems like one of the only ways to win!
Who should Lerone Murphy face after winning seven straight inside the Octagon?
Kevin Holland acknowledges his recent struggles and promises to do better. Back to Welterweight?
Been pretty trash lately… gotta clean up
— Kevin Holland (@Trailblaze2top) January 22, 2025
A confusing story in two parts …
Benardo Sopaj vs. Ricky Turcios had some fun scrambles.
uchi mata counter to head inside single leg entry with scramble in deep half to get to the dog fight. Turcios defending against front arm triangle attacks by hooking the leg before he goes to his knees like Volk did against Ortega pic.twitter.com/tv8SmvTX5B
— Josie Aldo (@JosieAldoMMA) January 18, 2025
Slips, rips, and KO clips
For my money, there’s nobody in MMA history I would want to fight less than Rousimar Palhares.
“The Fireball Kid” throwing fastballs.
An old school kickboxing classic!
Random Land
Breaking down a car:
Midnight Music: The second posthumous Mac Miller album, Balloonerism, released last Friday and was clearly handled with a lot of care. I quite enjoyed it!
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.
