Midnight Roundup! Dwayne Johnson reacts to Themba Gorimbo's win, Islam Makhachev teases return timeline, BKFC boss meets UFC CEO Dana White, and more

There's no such thing as a quiet weekend for the MMA community. UFC Vegas 85 went down at the Apex facility last weekend, and fans were treated to several exciting moments. Themba Gorimbo notably secured a 32-second knockout over Pete Rodriguez that even impressed Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.

Elsewhere, Islam Makhachev dropped a major hint about his next fight date, and BKFC supremo Dave Feldman opened up about meeting "great guy" Dana White after the bare-knuckle boxing promotion's recent event.

Check out all the latest MMA news updates brought to you by Sportskeeda's Midnight Roundup.

Dwayne Johnson reacts to Themba Gorimbo's UFC Vegas 85 victory

WWE megastar Dwayne Johnson recently joined fans in praising UFC welterweight contender Themba Gorimbo for his latest win. 'The Answer' recently secured an incredible highlight-reel-worthy knockout win over Pete Rodriguez at UFC Vegas 85.

After the fight, Gorimbo posted an inaudible video of him speaking to 'The Rock' on a call on Instagram and thanked the Hollywood superstar for his support. Johnson expressed his reaction in the comments section and wrote:

"Incredible win my brother. We’re all so proud of you. Keep climbing that mountain and inspiring everyone along the way. Congrats to you, your coaches, and TEAM. Love U!!"

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It's no secret that Gorimbo and Johnson share a close relationship. The WWE star notably gifted his 'The Answer' a new fully-furnished house in Miami last year after his first UFC win.

UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev shares potential return timeline

UFC lightweight kingpin Islam Makhachev recently revealed that he's looking to make his return to action in June or July and has been keeping himself ready for a fight. He also detailed his everyday training schedule and outlined why it was important for a champion to stay fit.

In a recent interview with MMA Squad, shared by @ChampRDS on X, Makhachev outlined his future plans and said:

"June/July I have next fight. I did just one training every day, nothing like hard. But I’m still training every day because I am a champion, I have to defend my belt, I have to be ready."

The 155-pound king is coming off an impressive first-round knockout over Alexander Volkanovski in their rematch at UFC 294 this past October.

Dave Feldman opens up about meeting Dana White after BFC 57 event

UFC CEO Dana White is undoubtedly among the most successful promoters in combat sports history. Given his incredible track record, it's no surprise that other promoters love picking his brain whenever possible.

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) boss Dave Feldman recently linked up with White and had the opportunity to talk shop with him. In an interview with MMA Fighting, Feldman spoke about having a conversation with White and said:

"It was more of just creating an ally. That’s really all I have to say. It was great meeting. He’s a great guy. He’s doing his thing with UFC, and we’re going to do our thing with BKFC. We’re going to be the biggest combat sport on the planet.”

Renato Moicano calls out two top-ranked lightweights after defeating Drew Dober at UFC Vegas 85

Renato Moicano is on a roll. The Brazilian lightweight contender recently earned a hard-fought unanimous decision win over Drew Dober at UFC Vegas 85 last weekend.

In the aftermath, Moicano made a splash with his unique post-fight octagon speech and later called out two top-ten-ranked lightweights for a fight. During a live fan interaction on social media after the bout, Moicano stated:

"Dan Hooker is in trouble. I want to beat Dan Hooker in Brazil, my brother.”

Catch Renato Moicano's comments below (5:16):

He then proceeded to call out Beneil Dariush on X and wrote:

"Beneil Dariush, see you in Brazil… If you support 'Merica… retweet this s*** and tag @ufc modaf*****s."

Leon Edwards opens up about Dana White and the UFC's "monopoly" in the sport

Leon Edwards recently addressed claims that Dana White has created a monopoly of power for himself in the UFC. 'Rocky' stated that the status that the UFC CEO enjoys in his promotion is duly responsible for making MMA more exciting.

In a recent episode of Up Front With Simon Jordan, Edwards shared his thoughts on White's influence in fixing the matchups in the UFC, saying:

"A lot of it, I feel like, does help the sport as far as like the best fight the best. In boxing, there are so many IBOs and WBs. There are so many different organizations it's difficult to get the best to fight the best."

He continued:

"With the UFC, the No.1 normally fights the No.2. You see more entertaining fights because all the top guys fight each other. We don't have to wait for like five years for them to fight."

Catch Leon Edwards' comments below (53:23):

Chris Curtis fires back at Nassourdine Imavov for fight-ducking allegations

Chris Curtis and Nassourdine Imavov have no love for each other.

During Imavov's fight against Roman Dolidze at UFC Vegas 85, 'The Sniper' landed an illegal kick on his opponent. This led to referee Herb Dean pausing the fight. During this time, Imavov got into a heated argument with Curtis, who was part of Dolidze's corner.

Curtis and Imavov faced each other at UFC 289 in June last year. During the fight, 'The Actionman' suffered an unintentional head clash and was rendered unable to continue. The fight ultimately ended in a no-contest.

After their latest verbal scuffle, Imavov reportedly told MMA journalist Amy Kaplan that Curtis ducked a rematch offer before UFC Paris last year. While Curtis admitted that Imavov was right, he explained why he couldn't make it via an X post and wrote:

"True story, I was having a baby and not leaving the very pregnant mother of my son on the other side of the world to deal with a dirty prick. Big talk on camera and then nothing. A tale as told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.''