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.
Let’s be real, I don’t like looking at horrific injuries and I bet a lot of you don’t either, but this is the reality of the business we’re in. And if I had to see one, well, so do you!
(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.)
They were truly mixing the martial arts at Bangla Boxing Stadium with MMA and Muay Thai going down this past weekend in Phuket, Thailand. While I’d love to highlight the incredible technique and heart displayed by the athletes involved, what we really need to talk about is what happened to poor Mar here.
I had to just bring up the event replay and timestamp that one for you because the original clip (shoutout to Matysek88) is apparently objectionable enough that I can’t even embed it in this post. So enjoy that.
After a brief standup start, Samandar takes Mar for a ride and lands a pretty standard takedown slam. At a glance, you wouldn’t even know something was wrong and Mar showed little signs of panic, or even discomfort. But look closer and it’s clear as day Mar’s leg is no longer oriented properly. We’re talking feet pointing in opposite directions and I’m not talking sideways.
Sure, there are plenty of you who are desensitized to this sort of thing—pffft, you can’t even see bone, bro—but for those of us with weaker stomachs, that’s a tough watch. The adrenaline must have been pumping something fierce because even after the situation settled down, Mar looked surprisingly chill as he was carted out on a stretcher.
He’ll be feeling that one eventually, though.
Magomed Saliev vs. Amirkhon Alikhujaev
My favorite knockout of the week comes to us from Mangu Professional League 1 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where Magomed Saliev simply said, “Enough!” and slumped his opponent with an overhand right.
Great technique? Timing? Sure. But that finish is all about intent. You don’t throw a punch like that without some hatred in your heart.
Boom. Instant Downward Dog.
Watch a free replay on YouTube of Mangu Professional Fight League 1, which has already amassed… wait… 5.3 million views??? Maybe these Fists weren’t Missed!
Busurman Zhumagul vs. Daniel Morrison
Arisa Matsuda vs. Ayan Tursyn
Damien Anderson vs. Hondo Gutierrez
UFC would kill for those kinds of numbers on Fight Pass, but they’ll just have to settle for the usual awesomeness from Cage Fury FC.
The New Jersey-based promotion’s most recent event was headlined by a trio of vacant title fights, and Busurman Zhumagul claimed the welterweight strap with this gorgeous spinning backfist into an anaconda choke sequence.
That’s just showing off.
William Starks defeated Nikita Leshukov to become lightweight champion, but I was really impressed by Arisa Matsuda, who now holds a 115-pound title after securing this sweet armbar submission against Ayan Tursyn.
If Tursyn’s name sounds familiar, she’s been featured a couple of times in Missed Fists for her amateur exploits. Unfortunately, her pro career hasn’t hit the same heights, but all credit to Matsuda for taking care of business with gold on the line.
Damien Anderson also showed off his submission savvy, catching Hondo Gutierrez with a kneebar out of a scramble.
Arlind Berisha vs. Wesley Silva
At Fight Club Rush 27, also on Fight Pass, Arlind Berisha passed on the spinning stuff and went right to the choke part.
Lights all the way out there. Power just completely shut down. Backup generator kaput.
Felipe Oliveira vs. Wallace Portela
Spinning stuff is still cool, though, for the record.
From Arena Global 37 in Rio de Janeiro:
That is legitimately one of the quickest spinning backfists you’ll ever see. Looked like Felipe Oliveira was moving at 3x speed there. Might need to watch that one again a few more times to catch it (and also because it’s awesome).
Pedro Calembela vs. Tom Benett
I mentioned Tursyn having difficulty transitioning from a successful amateur run to a pro career earlier. Pedro Calembela is kind of the opposite?
That’s Calembela scoring a gorgeous flying knee finish at a Levels Fight League event in Amsterdam (free replay available on YouTube). This was Calembela’s pro debut and I can’t imagine there was much fanfare given his recent results.
Calembela was just 5-7 as an amateur according to Tapology and actually lost three straight fights heading into his fight with Tom Benett. But maybe this man just needed to get paid because guess what? 1-0 as a pro!
Marcus Nash vs. Duane Johnson
Next up, from RUF 66 in Phoenix, it’s Marcus “Not Kevin” Nash taking on Duane “Definitely Not The Rock” Johnson.
This fight probably could have been stopped a touch sooner, but Johnson refused to definitively go down and continued to brawl on auto-pilot until a Nash right hand put him flat on his face. Not quite the Fingerbook of Doom, but we’ll take it.
Nahoru Miyagi vs. Ryo Matsui
Vladislav Shatunskyi vs. Bartosz Nowicki
As we close out this week, it’s only appropriate we turn our attention to a pair of amazing third-round finishes.
According to caposa, things weren’t going great through two rounds for Nahoru Miyagi at Pancrase Blood.9 in Tokyo. He turned things around real fast.
Best comeback strategy? Socking your opponent right in the mush, a strategy Miyagi executed to perfection.
Scorecards are for suckers, kids.
At King’s Arena 2 in Olsztyn, Poland, amateur fighter Vladislav Shatunskyi was short on time when he went for the win, landing a head kick that nuked opponent Bartosz Nowicki with less than 30 seconds to go.
Dude’s mouth was left open like The Scream.
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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