Midnight Mania highlights! Bo Nickal trucks Donovan Beard, finally earns UFC contract

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

In his second appearance on “Contender Series,” Bo Nickal squared off against CFFC Middleweight champ Donovan Beard. Similar to his first fight, Nickal made quick work of his opponent.

This time, there was a brief feeling out process. Then, at the 30 second mark of the first round, Nickal cracked his opponent with a left hand and took him down at the same time. He landed in mount and hunted for the guillotine choke briefly. Instead, he set up a triangle, allowing his opponent to roll into top position. Moments later, Beard was forced to tap.

The whole thing took less than a minute. Yet again, Nickal clearly proved himself a UFC caliber athlete, and this time, he scored the contract as a result. Good luck, Middleweight division!

Check out the highlights below courtesy of UFC/ESPN:

Insomnia

Rafael dos Anjos is heading back up to 170 lbs., where he’ll face Bryan Barberena on December 3.

Did the Aspen Ladd weight debacle also end Sara McMann’s career, or is she still in negotiation? We’ll have to wait and see!

Apparently, Zimbabwean boxers really got creative with their fight names back in the 1970s.

Stephen Thompson shows off his accuracy and kicking form in a unique exercise.

Make no mistake: getting punked by Saenchai is an honor and privilege.

Curtis Blaydes really carved his nickname into his flesh; I respect it.

Petr Yan fires so smoothly from both sides, and those body kicks really wear opponents down.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Over the weekend, one of those rarely seen, slow-motion/delayed reaction knockdowns happened at Fight Music Show 2.

This jump knee also produced a “TIMBER!” moment.

Before Nick Diaz was boxing everyone up with nonstop pressure and body shots, he was solely thought of as a jiu-jitsu guy.

Random Land

FISH ON!

Midnight Music: Soul, 1973

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