Midnight Mania! Merab Dvalishvili recruits Henry Cejudo’s fired coach for UFC 298: ‘We have a new coach!’

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Top-ranked Bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili has jokes.

He’s scheduled to fight former two-weight champion Henry Cejudo this weekend (Sat. Feb. 17, 2024) inside Honda Center in Anaheim, California. There was a very odd incident earlier this week in which Cejudo appeared to publicly fire his longtime coach, Eric Albarracin, while being recorded by UFC “Countdown” cameras.

It’s hard to make heads or tails of the situation. Why would this information about Cejudo firing his coach release after an entire training camp of them theoretically being separated? Is this just another cringe tactic for attention from “Triple C” or a genuine attempt to reignite his career?

Whatever the case, Dvalishvili is trying to turn Cejudo’s loss into his gain! In the video above that Dvalishvili posted on Tuesday, “The Machine” tracks down Albarracin and recruits him by force to his camp and corner. Albarracin tries to decline, but Dvalishvili proclaims “We have a new coach!” and “I love my coach!” anyway.

There is, of course, no chance that Albarracin will actually be in Dvalishvili’s corner on Saturday night. It will be interesting to see whether or not he’s actually standing behind Cejudo, however.

LIVE! Watch UFC 298 PPV On ESPN+ Here!

WORLD FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Sat., Feb. 17, 2024, for the first time in more than two years with its latest pay-per-view (PPV) show. In the ESPN+-streamed PPV main event, reigning Featherweight roost-ruler, Alexander Volkanovski, will defend his 145-pound strap against undefeated surging Spanish contender, Ilia Topuria. In addition, former Middleweight kingpin, Robert Whittaker, will finally square off with mercurial mauler, Paulo Costa, in UFC 298’s co-feature. UFC 298 will also feature the returns of Ian Garry, Geoff Neal, Henry Cejudo, Merab Dvalishvili and so much more!

Don’t miss a single second of EPIC face-punching action!

• STREAM UFC 298

Insomnia

Given that Sean Strickland is not 40 and actually fights at Middleweight, I would be interested in watching this match up. Therefore, it will not happen.

No young athletes dream of fighting in an empty warehouse.

I know Dr. Phil is a not a licensed doctor and all, but I would watch him psychoanalyze Nate Diaz.

UFC Vegas 86 was NOT GOOD, but it did provide us with at least two baffling and hilarious moments.

Back around 2006, one-in-three UFC fighters looked exactly like this.

A bit of a homecoming celebration for Themba Gorimbo!

Gordon Ryan trolls relentlessly, so him getting mocked here has to be fair game, right?

Slips, rips, and KO clips

I have no idea how Goncalves escaped the rear naked choke grip guillotine the first time, but he couldn’t pull off two miracles.

This man hit the floor like he was shot.

Slipenko landed a stiff counter jab and didn’t expect Diphcikov to keep firing ...

Random Land

An impressive tandoor oven.

Midnight Music: I listened to the new Kanye album, and it’s okay. The highlight for me is the Freddie Gibbs feature!

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