Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Let’s start the night off by taking a look back over the three biggest stories of Thursday, Feb. 16, 2026.
- UFC releases No. 8-ranked Heavyweight Jailton Almeida after awful fight: This decision is far from a surprise, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right call if the aim is to have a healthy and active Heavyweight division.
- Nate Diaz teases ‘unfinished business’ in the UFC: ‘I’ll see you soon’: Does the UFC need star power badly enough to rehire a very old Nate Diaz? We’ll find out.
- UFC Houston’s Geoff Neal reveals five-year battle with addiction – ‘I got a second chance’: I have to imagine Neal’s healthier lifestyle will make the weight cuts and training camps quite a bit smoother.
Insomnia
Just moments ago, Mikey Musumeci retained his UFC BJJ Bantamweight title! Afterward, he called out Arman Tsarukyan, which would be a very interesting challenge for the ace grappler.
“Arman (Tsarukyan) called out (Tom Hardy) for a grappling match. Tom Hardy at this time was a purple belt. He called out a hobbyist purple belt for a grappling match, how about he competes against a jiu-jitsu person in a grappling match?” Musumeci said.
Alright, here’s a pair of non-controversial cuts I think we can all agree on.
Charles Oliveira is looking strong ahead of UFC 326!
I loved Horiguchi’s strangely angled ducking left hook. He set it up well by spearing Albazi a bunch of times with the jab first!
I’m definitely looking forward to watching Ethyn Ewing’s career after his short-notice win over Malcolm Wellmaker.
Merab Dvalishvili is back work on his skits, and I have to say I quite liked this one.
Daniel Cormier was a mean bastard (compliment) on the wrestling mats and in the cage, I’m having a hard time buying that he’s too squeamish to kimura Jon Jones if given the opportunity back in the day..
Slips, rips, and KO clips
The leaping left hook is an interesting setup for a wheel kick. Tremendous!
I’d love to go train with some of the incredible Japanese kickboxers, but I fear they would beat my ass so badly I’d have no choice but to shoot doubles. Those lads spar hard!
ICYMI: Krazy Horse is back in the win column, baby!
Random Land
This is really cool science and seems like a bad sign for my belly fat.
Midnight Music: Pop, 1995
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.
