Welcome to the latest edition of Missed Fists where we shine a light on fights from across the globe that may have been overlooked in these hectic times where it seems like there’s an MMA show every other day.
MVP MMA officially launched, Scott Coker is forming a new promotion, the UFC machine continues to chug along, guys, MMA is back!
But in all this excitement, let’s not forget the little (or not so little if you’re Oktagon MMA) guys and gals of the regional and international set. We had a ton of amazing action to catalogue these past two weeks, starting with an unorthodox slam knockout in New Hampshire.
(Big thanks as always to @Barrelelapierna for their weekly lists of the best KOs, and to @Grabaka_Hitman for uploading many of the clips you see here. Give them a follow and chip in on Patreon if you can.)
Tyree Durham vs. Will D’Amico
Back in January, Tyree Durham made his amateur debut and, unfortunately, it didn’t go his way as he lost via rear-naked choke.
My man said, “Never again.”
Facing Will D’Amico at Combat Zone 92, Durham found himself in a familiar predicament, but this time he was escaping come hell or high water. With a mighty leap, he threw himself backwards and landed with considerable impact on D’Amico, instantly knocking him unconscious.
There’s a lot of headbutt in there-some might say, 100 percent headbutt-but credit to Durham for willing to attempt such a desperation move and for it actually working. Never give up!
Ion Sato vs. Yuhei Nagamitsu
Justin Detzel vs. Mate Kola
Rubik Virabyan vs. Juan Trujillo
Now, on to some submissions that actually worked.
We just got to see Ronda Rousey make a successful comeback utilizing her signature armbar, but that was just one of many show-stealing highlights we’ve seen recently.
For example, at a Grachan show in Tokyo, Ion Sato earned a tap-out with a… well, honestly, I’m not sure what this is.
Half Dead Frank here is going with twister, as are Sherdog and Tapology, so I guess that’s what it is. But once Sato and Yuhei Nagamitsu are all tangled up on the mat, you could convince me this is some Eddie Bravo “Upside Down Cosmic Rhino Hold” shit and I’d believe you.
An Oktagon show in Hannover, Germany, saw Justin Detzel break out a gorgeous Suloev stretch to claim a third-round victory.
You can see where it all went downhill for Mate Kola as he attempted a costly spinning elbow that missed the mark and left him easy pickings for a takedown. Kola’s second mistake was allowing Detzel to snatch his leg and stretch his foot over his head.
And over at an Rkena FC event in Tbilisi, Georgia, Rubik Virabyan apparently read my mind as I was just thinking about how I haven’t seen a good north-south choke in a while.
It wasn’t picture-perfect as Virabyan gave opponent Juan Trujillo plenty of room to squirm, but persistence pays off and he eventually either cinched the choke in properly or just wore Trujillo out. Either way, I shouldn’t nitpick, because we got pretty much every submission we wanted this week.
Oh by the way, Rkena FC 3 also included some pretty sweet knockouts, with Meruzhan Palian connecting with a stunning front kick to the face, and Beka Tamliani needing just 18 seconds to put away Brad Wheeler.
Laureano Staropoli vs. Wahed Nazhand
Samuel Gotti vs. Thomas Aguilar
Nisar Azizi vs. Paolo Screnci
Christian Gonzalez vs. Othmane Ouyhia
Elton Dedaj vs. Melvin Jovel
Adam Livingston vs. Kyle Pufahl
Dmytro Petrishchev vs. Volodymyr Stadnyk
Marcelo Valadao Junior vs. Elias Goley
And now, we come to the portion of the show that requires a legal disclaimer (No. 1 rule of the fight game: don’t get sued!): If at any point in this section you experience or are suffering from dizziness, nausea, vertigo, epilepsy, Meniere’s disease, heart palpitations, an uncontrollable urge to constantly quote Conor McGregor, or any other concerning health issues, please click away from this tab for a few seconds before continuing.
Because we got a whole lotta fighters spinning and spinning and spinning and, oh, yeah WINNING!
Former UFC fighter Laureano Staropoli kicks (heh heh heh) things off with this spinning effort at a Fight Nation Championship event in Zadar, Croatia, where he landed what looked to be a glancing blow but was plenty hard enough to leave Wahed Nazhand stiff.
Staropoli’s effort was one-upped by amateur flyweight Samuel Gotti, who took to the skies before doing a 180 and driving his foot into his opponent’s face at an MMA League event in Ondres, France.
I don’t know what was going on over there, because Nisar Azizi also scored a spinning knockout, with his kick finishing his fight in just 15 seconds.
You can check out more French amateur action for free on YouTube.
Non-professionals were absolutely crushing it as Christian Gonzalez also picked up a spin kick KO over at Ready Fight 8 in Madrid.
He got some range on that one.
You know what? We’re not done. Dust off your UFC Fight Pass and enjoy these out-of-nowhere spinning elbows (yes, plural!) from LFA 232 in Mashantucket, Conn., courtesy of Elton Dedaj and Adam Livingston.
If you’ll forgive the digression, we can’t depart the LFA cage without mentioning Abbas Abasov and his overhand right that sent Regivaldo Carvalho flying.
OK, fine, back to the spinning.
At Bastion Fight League 2 (free replay available on YouTube) in Belchatow, Poland, Dmytro Petrishchev bonked Volodymyr Stadnyk with a backfist that left Stadnyk kissing canvas.
And last, but certainly not least, we have one of MMA’s most timeless archetypes: The Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist who just wants to throw hands.
Or in Marcelo Valadao Junior’s case, an absolute hellbow.
Fury FC 119 is available for replay on UFC Fight Pass.
If you know of a recent fight or event that you think may have been overlooked, or a promotion that could use some attention, please let us know on X — @AlexanderKLee — using the hashtag #MissedFists.
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