Midnight Mania! Cody Garbrandt nearly comes to blows with Russian ‘Headhunter’ in podcast gone wrong

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Cody Garbrandt may not have the Donald Cerrone-type reputation as a fighter willing to jump in on short-notice against any challenger, but “No Love” has yet to back down from altercation outside of the cage. He’s the one who answered Conor McGregor’s call to “do something” on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), and he also gave TJ Dillashaw the ol’ throat shove on a later season of TUF. That’s not to mention beef with other top fighters like Sean O’Malley, or his near-brawl with Petr Yan backstage at UFC 245.

To my knowledge, this is his first overseas brouhaha, however. In the video above, Russian “Headhunter” and top ACA Featherweight contender Bibert Tumenov (12-2) didn’t like something Garbrandt said during the promotion of his fight versus former PFL kingpin Lance Palmer. Tumenov immediately took to his feet and attempted to get in Garbrandt’s face.

“No Love” responded in kind, but the two were held apart by multiple people. Garbrandt is in Russia to corner “The Party” Palmer, as the two Ohio natives have trained together for more than a decade now at fight gyms like Team Alpha Male and Xtreme Couture. Palmer vs. Tumenov is scheduled to go down this weekend (Sat., Sept. 2, 2023) in Krasnodar, Russia as main event of ACA 162, with the Featherweight belt on the line.

As for Garbrandt, the back injuries that have plagued him since his 2016 title reign removed him from his UFC 292 bout versus Mario Bautista, and he also revealed recently to Michael Bisping that he’s dealing with serious hip injuries as well. The former champion is 2-2 in his last four bouts, having most recently decisioned Trevin Giles in March 2023.

Insomnia

Istela Nunes lost four straight fights and dislocated her arm in 30 seconds last time out. That’s a tough run!

UFC loves last-second matchmaking switch ups lately.

On one hand, Sam Alvey is bad at dealing with distance kickers. On the other hand, karate dudes tend to get smacked by check hooks, and that’s Alvey’s best punch by a country mile. Could be neat?

Baby Max Holloway is pulling at my heart strings.

MMA journalist drama is the lowest form of drama.

I don’t doubt that Amanda Lemos could crack some heads at 125 lbs., but this looks like pretty standard not-very-fun weight cut business to me.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Serghei Spivac may not actually put people to sleep, but it’s fun to watch him toss Heavyweights!

A knockout delivered with a smile.

An under-the-radar boxing war:

Random Land

Flight physics.

Midnight Music: Psych rock, 1968

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