Missed Fists: Fighter nearly drowns opponent to win ridiculous pool scrap

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.

Apologies, but I’m going to need all of you to put your UFC Vegas 100 party planning aside for a moment so you can check out this week’s latest randomness from the fighting world, namely Yatcha Club being at it again.

(Big thanks as always to @Barrelelapierna for their weekly lists of the best KOs and submissions, 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.)

If you’re not familiar with Yatcha Club, its whole gimmick is putting on fights in the most off-beat places you can imagine. Children’s play areas, underground tunnels, parking garages, you name it, the club has probably thrown two dudes in it to punch and kick each other.

In their latest experiment, fighters Chung Soo Lee and Kris Kirsch made their way over to a wading pool to do battle and the results are just about what you’d expect.

Going for a takedown in this setting is incredibly smart. If you’re the one being taken down, doing anything besides immediately trying to get up off your back is incredibly not smart. Because of, you know, the whole being submerged in water thing.

Once Kirsch is down, Lee doesn’t even have to do much other than sloppily grapple as his opponent tries not to swallow a gallon of water. The only strategy to even consider in this fight is making sure you’re on top and then pushing the other guy down until they tap or drown. Like, bro, why are you even going for ground-and-pound there?

Let’s toss this concept in the “never again” pile.

Watch the whole fight below and more from Yatcha Club on their YouTube channel.

Damien Anderson vs. Gabriel Wanderley
Richard Mayol vs. Dallas Dodd
Artur Minev vs. Cristobal Ibanez

With whatever that was out of the way, let’s retreat to the comfy confines of UFC Fight Pass, where human beings were KO’ing and submitting each other the old-fashioned way.

At Fury FC 98 in Houston, Damien Anderson scored a heel hook submission that would make Ryan Hall proud, winning a tangle of limbs to force the tap from Gabriel Wanderley.

Not going to lie, this may have just been an excuse to mention Ryan Hall. Get well and fight again soon, sir.

Richard Mayol (not to be confused with British comedy legend and Drop Dead Fred star Rik Mayall, may he rest in peace) kicks off a cavalcade of right hand knockouts with this precision shot to the temple of Dallas Dodd.

You can pinpoint the exact moment where Dodd’s body shuts down and were it not for the cage wall stopping him, he would have fallen flat back into a nice nap instead of having to absorb that extra shot.

Earlier on the card, Artur Minev needed just 28 seconds to queue up his right hand to blister Cristobal Ibanez.

Stuffs the shot, immediately corners his opponent, and then ends him. Cold efficiency from the Ukrainian lightweight, who improves to 4-0 as a pro.

Stefano Paterno vs. Jorge Bueno
Konstantinos Ntelis vs. Simone Patrizi

Over at Cage Warriors 179 in Rome, the top 2 fights of the night delivered with-you guessed it-a pair of powerful right hand knockouts.

Stefano Paterno continued his recent hot streak, cracking Jorge Bueno for a stylish walk-off finish.

That’s six straight wins for Paterno, including three wins inside the distance since returning to Cage Warriors. At 29, the Italian’s best days are still ahead of him.

Greece’s Konstantinos Ntelis made sure it was a short night at the office as he caught an advancing Simone Patrizi with an absolute hammer that Patrizi stepped directly into.

There’s your “When Your Legs Don’t Work Like They Used To Before” KO of the Week.

Mauricio Partida vs. Brandon Uruchurtu

Zipping over to Lux Fight League 47 in Mexico City, we go from lower limb shutdown to total body shutdown.

Mauricio Partida refused to let Brandon Uruchurtu just chill against the fence, so when he saw an opening to strike, he took it and then some. That’s a monster knee up the middle and Uruchurtu doesn’t just go down in pain, he appears to freeze up completely. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if he cracked a rib there.

Emily Ducote vs. Yulia Ostroverkhova
Victoria Leonardo vs. Amanda Torres
Shanna Young vs. Pamela Boveda
Magdalena Czaban vs. Jessica Hope Holmes

Hopefully you tuned in live on CBS, but in case you didn’t, Invicta FC has you covered with all the highlights from its latest show in Kansas City, Kan. It was a big night for recently released UFC vets, with Emily Ducote, Victoria Leonardo, and Shanna Young all picking up impressive finishes.

Of the three, I’m happiest for Leonardo, who was coming off of two rough knockout losses to Wang Cong and Natalia Silva. During her UFC run, Leonardo developed a reputation for being on the wrong end of spectacular highlights, so for her to get back in the win column and score her first finish since 2020, that’s got to be sweet.

Just two fights into her pro career, atomweight Magdalena Czaban has a submission win she can crow about after locking in this nasty guillotine.

If the UFC ever gets serious about implementing the 115-pound division, Czaban is one to keep an eye on.

Emin Huseynov vs. Olzhas Zhakypbekuly

Let’s end today’s globe-trotting in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where Olzhas Zhakypbekuly ended up with his face in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Whatever Emin Huseynov had done prior to this, he had Zhakypbekuly biting hard on a fake before launching into his spin kick. Zhakypbekuly gets low, gets his hands up, and still ends up eating all of that one. That can’t feel good.

Full Alash Pride fights are available to watch for free on their YouTube channel.

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.