Midnight Mania! Injury Costs UFC 296 An Absolute Banger

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

UFC 296, which is scheduled for next weekend (Sat. Dec. 16, 2023) inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, just lost an absolute banger of a Featherweight contest. Decorated professional kickboxer Giga Chikadze was training to throw down with heavy-handed boxer Josh Emmett when disaster struck. The Georgian tore his groin in training, forcing him out of the fight.

Much like Jon Jones earlier this year, Chikadze happened to catch the exact moment that things went very wrong. The Southpaw throws a left round kick that looks like any other — that is his signature weapon after all! — but he immediately collapses to the floor in pain.

Watch it below:

Sh*t happens! Tore groin! I’ll be back soon!

It just goes to show how suddenly a fighter can suffer a fight-canceling injury. Chikadze has thrown that exact kick a countless number of times, but some combination of fatigue, wear-and-tear, and simple bad luck meant that this kick ripped something important. Subsequently, Chikadze loses a paycheck, and fans miss out on a great match up.

Emmett, meanwhile, is now left without a dance partner. He immediately reached out on social media, looking for an opponent willing to step up on just 12 day’s worth of notice as the replacement.

Giga’s Out. Who’s ready Dec 16th?

Stay tuned for any updates on a potential replacement foe for Emmett. In the interim, here’s hoping a speedy recovery for Chikadze.

Insomnia

UFC Featherweight veteran Andre Fili just dropped on instructional on MMA setups, and the preview alone shows off some of my favorite “Touchy” signature strategies.

A great shot of two brothers, legends both.

I’ve actually met a couple Muay Thai coaches who have taught this technique, but I’m still waiting to see its Octagon debut!

I fully believe that Manel Kape fully believes he would beat up Israel Adesanya in a street fight.

I haven’t checked in on Diego Brandao’s career in many years, yet this doesn’t surprise me in the least.

Just some lads having a bit of fun.

This is so aggressively petty I cannot help but be impressed.