Midnight Mania highlights! Teofimo Lopez barely lands a punch, win controversial decision over Jamaine Ortiz anyway

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Teofimo Lopez vs. Jamaine Ortiz simply wrapped up moments in the past (Thurs. Feb. 8, 2024) from inside Michelob Extremely Enviornment in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lopez sought the primary protection of his WBO Tremendous Welterweight title, and technically, he achieved that aim with a unanimous choice victory after 12 rounds of fight.

Possibly with somewhat assist from the judges …

First issues first, Lopez vs. Ortiz was not combat. When you watch the primary three rounds, you’ve successfully seen all the 36 minutes of “motion.” The final circulation of the match went like this: Ortiz, preventing from the Southpaw stance, flashed jabs that didn’t land and circled to his proper. Lopez chased him throughout however by no means actually tried to chop off the cage.

Probably the most important strike in 12 rounds of boxing was an unintentional conflict of heads. In any other case, Ortiz landed the occasional examine hook with some pop, whereas Lopez related on just a few counter uppercuts that will have achieved some injury. No person was ever damage or notably bothered, and each males completed the competition with pretty clear faces and an terrible touchdown share.

Nonetheless, it felt like Ortiz was the more practical man total by a small margin. MMAmania’s personal Patrick Stumberg scored the combat 118-110 Ortiz, and the vast majority of scorecards I noticed on-line have been additionally in favor of “The Technician.” The bout was too shut and too uninteresting for anybody to get overly upset, nevertheless it’s nonetheless considerably surprising that the ultimate scorecards have been so in favor of Lopez (117-111, 115-113 x2).

Take a look at the (meager) highlights beneath:

For a person who rebranded himself “The Showman,” this wasn’t precisely a star-making evening for Teofimo Lopez. He might have scraped by with the victory, however he most likely didn’t earn many new followers with this efficiency.

Insomnia

Cris Cyborg doesn’t count on to compete within the cage within the first half of 2024 … at a minimal.

Gilbert Burns isn’t shopping for the Colby Covington x-ray schtick.

I assumed sending this shirt to Matt Frevola was a little bit of a d—ok transfer at first, however then earlier tweets revealed it was Frevola’s thought, and now I’m totally on board.

I don’t like this information.

I’m going to have problem spelling his identify for at the very least two years, however this man’s match is super. The Mongolian expertise is 8-0 at 25 years of age.

Who is aware of whether or not or not Zabit Magomedsharipov would’ve turn into UFC champion, however the man all the time had some slick strikes.

Favourite left hook in MMA historical past is a tough query. Jose Aldo vs. Jeremy Stephens involves thoughts!

Featherweight violence within the works:

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Jeremiah Wells is among the largely oddly athletic fighters in current reminiscence.

Extra “Robocop” content material!

An ideal Muay Thai spotlight!

Random Land

A fast phrase from a founding father:

Midnight Music: Folks, 1965

Sleep effectively Maniacs! Extra martial arts insanity is all the time on the way in which.