Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Let’s start the night off by taking a look back over the three biggest stories of Friday, Oct. 16, 2026.
- UFC CEO Dana White: ‘I want $10 billion after we get out of this deal’: Honestly, this doesn’t seem like an outrageous target six or so years from now.
- LIVE! Official BrandRisk 16 video stream, complete results and highlights | Frost vs. Osiris: The popularity of BrandRisk on this site is a continued source of confusion for me, but the results don’t lie. SOMEBODY is watching this stuff!
- Farid Basharat beefs with Payton Talbott after controversial UFC release: ‘Keep your mouth shut boy’: Strong odds that Basharat lands with PFL, but this would be an intriguing fight.
Insomnia
For better or worse, Joaquin Buckley is bringing the intensity to UFC Edmonton. Dana White’s face is priceless!
Dana White’s reaction to Joaquin Buckley refusing to shake his hand 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/tp8SDJKiFz
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) October 16, 2026
I hope Raoni Barcelos is able to get a definitive diagnosis (and a lucrative coaching job).
Raoni Barcelos is still waiting for a diagnosis after his mysterious health scare:
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) October 15, 2026
"We don’t know what happened. It was a sudden illness. I fell ill, and I felt my whole body really starting to go numb. After that, I don’t remember anything."
(🎥 @guicruzzz) pic.twitter.com/dVJzTkkBkl
Let me ask a question: would UFC Edmonton be more interesting if it featured all these fighters?
Dana used to say best vs the best But today it is all about entertainment
— Muhammad Mokaev (@muhammadmokaev) October 16, 2026
From the business side they're right but from the sport perspective they're wrong
At least they could of wait until "their best fighters" took away our unefeated record
To not let go a guy who beat their… pic.twitter.com/ieHQcNSv8l
Sounds about right.
‘STREET FIGHTER’ debuts with 28% on Rotten Tomatoes.
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 15, 2026
Read our review: https://t.co/e6jvDw0FjRpic.twitter.com/iLPUgfP81C
Why are the matchmakers wasting Chris Padilla’s time instead of giving him a ranked opponent? “Taco” is unbeaten in six UFC fights!
Chase Hooper vs. Chris Padilla#UFC335 – December 12th.
— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) October 16, 2026
(first rep. Connected MMA) pic.twitter.com/I2crPf1Zi9
Interesting way to remember your distance …
‼️ Jake Paul ran straight away when the snake tried to bite him from the Punching Bag 🥊🏃 🐍 pic.twitter.com/pRoO5BI6tc
— IFN (@IfnBoxing) October 15, 2026
A crazy story from the annals of boxing history:
Discovered a rather morbid fact about the first Joe Louis-Max Schmeling fight. Promoter Tom O'Rourke passed away in Schmeling's dressing room before the fight. He had popped in to wish him good luck. Body couldn't be removed until the coroner arrived. 1/2
— Shaun Brown (@shaunrbrown) October 14, 2026
Schmeling couldn't get a new room. So he and Tony Galento, who had been sitting with Schmeling and was on the undercard, had to share the room with the dead body until they were called to fight. Schmeling won famously by KO, Galento lost to Al Gainer by stoppage.
— Shaun Brown (@shaunrbrown) October 14, 2026
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Never saw that uppercut, not for a moment:
That uppercut sent him to the shadow realm 😭 pic.twitter.com/tNLxPhgLdJ
— Jules❤️🥊 (@julesboxing) October 15, 2026
Mystery finish! As far as I can tell, Alex The Gladiator won this fight via sprawling?
‼️ Alex The Gladiator defeats Jack Harris via Submission in Round 1 🤼 pic.twitter.com/aqbLHL5sdA
— IFN (@IfnBoxing) September 18, 2026
Another Flyweight knockout artist rising up the CFFC ranks? Lleshi is now 6-1 with his only loss a split-decision to Bilal Hassan.
KO for interim flyweight title! 💥
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) September 12, 2026
Jerry Lleshi wins by round 3 KNOCKOUT!
[ #CFFC161 | Live on UFC Fight Pass ] pic.twitter.com/NFdeVCLG8I
Random Land
U.S. sports trends:
Gallup updated their poll of Americans' favorite sport.
— Siddharth Khurana (@SidKhurana3607) October 15, 2026
Football remains #1 but interestingly there was a 10% decline. Basketball jumped back to #2.
Soccer with a jump too but that could just be a short-lived WC boost. pic.twitter.com/AWACEIP1Rr
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Midnight Music: Mom pick #2
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.