Midnight Mania! Win Via Finish, Get Cut Anyway

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 08: Daniel Marcos of Peru reacts after a victory against Miles Johns in a bantamweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on November 08, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Let’s start the night off by taking a look back over the three biggest stories of Friday, May 29, 2026.

1. Top prospect steps in to face Bryce Mitchell for UFC Vegas 118: Santiago Luna is a damn good Bantamweight prospect, but it may be too soon for him to beat a contender with the experience of “Thug Nasty.”
2. Anderson Silva fires back, fact checks ‘bald guy’ Dana White: The list of UFC legends who have a good relationship with Dana White feels short.
3. Sean Strickland’s next fight? Inactive Dricus du Plessis ‘out of his mind if he thinks he deserves a title shot’: It’s pretty clear that “DDP” currently has a fight booked, and it’s not for the next title shot.

Insomnia​

Four more fighters have been released today. Here’s a quick summary:

• Daniel Marcos (18-1 (1) overall, 5-1 (1) UFC): The must surprising cut of the list, particularly given Marcos won his most recent bout via finish against Miles John last November.
• Lando Vannata (12-8-2 overall, 4-8-2 UFC): “Groovy” lost his final three UFC fights, most recently getting stopped by Darius Flowers.
• Jamie Mullarkey (18-9 overall, 6-7 UFC): Mullarkey lost three of his last four, but those defeats came to Quillan Salkilld, Nasrat Haqparast, and Mauricio Ruffy. Tough run!
• Vince Morales (16-11 overall, 3-9 UFC): Morales’ second UFC run ends at 0-4 after his recent loss to Colby Thicknesse.

Fighter removed: Daniel Marcos

— UFC Roster Tracker (@RosterTracker) May 29, 2026

Fighter removed: Lando Vannata

— UFC Roster Tracker (@RosterTracker) May 29, 2026

Fighter removed: Jamie Mullarkey

— UFC Roster Tracker (@RosterTracker) May 29, 2026

Fighter removed: Vince Morales

— UFC Roster Tracker (@RosterTracker) May 29, 2026

Will you tune into the HBO documentary about Ilia Topuria?

‍ HBO Max just release trailer for upcoming Ilia Topuria documentary series and it’s looking fire

(via @StreamMaxES) pic.twitter.com/xlpk49PWPe

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) May 28, 2026

Petr Yan is such a slick fighter. He plays with range and distance in a way that’s almost singular compared to other MMA fighters.

Petr Yan putting the beats on Charles Johnson during sparring ‍ pic.twitter.com/9Jw7mvEltt

— DrunkenFist ™ (@drunkenfistmma) May 28, 2026

I don’t respect the behavior, but it was well-executed.

Polish MMA fighter hit his opponent with the nastiest faceoff violation pic.twitter.com/jre87Zl4T8

— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) May 29, 2026

The Eddie Hearn vs. Dana White beef is getting more stupid by the week.

Eddie Hearn went OFF on Dana White

"His butt cheeks must be red raw, because all I'm doing is spanking him all the time. His UFC is having the worst year, the boxing stuff they're doing is awful… I would spank that potato head."

(via @FightHubTV)pic.twitter.com/qB98xrOZlghttps://t.co/pdA8EUD1df

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 29, 2026

One has to wonder if this mass roster release is the result of Oktagon’s newly announced drug testing program …

The following athletes are no longer part of the OKTAGON roster:

Róza Gumienna
Sam Creasey
Eemil Kurhela
Kamil Wojciechowski
Sebastian Herzberg
Anita Bekus
Jose Zarauz
Gleb Shadrin
Petru Buzdugan
Brittney Cloudy
Aleksandar Stefanovic
Mohammed Trabelsi
Tibor Balázs
Karol Skrzypek…

— OKTAGON (@OktagonOfficial) May 29, 2026

Alberto Montes looks to be really sharp? This might be the end of the “Tommy Gun” hype …

Tommy McMillen will fight Alberto Montes at #UFCOKC on July 18th. (first rep. Krazy Kev) #UFC#MMA#UFCParamount#UFConParamount#UFC2026pic.twitter.com/U14aXDyQ8b

— Marcel Dorff (@BigMarcel24) May 29, 2026

IMPORTANT!

Today I Learned – Nate Landwehr used to have dreadlocks pic.twitter.com/uLCqIGJl6Q

— Jon Anik’s Giggle (@jonaniksgiggle) May 28, 2026

Slips, rips, and KO clips​

I didn’t even see the KO punch until the camera angle shifted.

The speed and counters of Fury FC champ Takaya Suzuki. Folding Boldbaatar with the left hand to the liver. We will see him in the UFC. pic.twitter.com/yE74N1aKZg

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) May 29, 2026

Eliminating the silly hand down rule has been great, but grounded knees need to be fully legalized.

What a way to earn a UFC contract!!

Namsrai Batbayar closed out the Road To UFC 4 flyweight tournament final with a first round TKO! pic.twitter.com/kN5ujSCpZm

— UFC (@ufc) May 29, 2026

That reaction implies a broken orbital or similar facial injury.

SE ACABOOOOÓ

Xie Bin termina rápido el trabajo con un potente derechazo #RTU5 | En vivo por: https://t.co/rOAdolsJLppic.twitter.com/hEjYyIXMhl

— UFC Español (@UFCEspanol) May 28, 2026

Random Land​

High-volume hot pot.

This is the reason why the hotpot soup you eat is so delicious. pic.twitter.com/BYOtM5rOZv

— vika hutama (@vikhutama) May 21, 2026

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Midnight Music: Soft rock, 1973


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

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