Missed Fists: Fighter drops hands, gets instantly destroyed

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.

UFC 300 is here, as you may have heard, so expect to see those three digits scroll across your screens non-stop over the next 72 hours (and beyond, most likely). But just because we’re focused on the UFC’s landmark pay-per-view event, it doesn’t mean we can’t take a quick glance back at the week that was and the highlights that were.

Starting with a bit of action that falls just short of the quality of what fans can expect to see in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

(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.)

Matias Olguin vs. Damian Ojeda

Unfortunately, I could not find this full fight from La Battalla del Puente anywhere, so we’re going to have to make some educated guesses about what the hell Damian Ojeda was doing here.

This is a middleweighty-looking middleweight bout that went past the halfway point, so I’m thinking Ojeda ran out of gas and that’s why he let Matias Olguin tee off on him. Those look like a couple of dead arms to me.

That said, it’s more fun to imagine that Ojeda has pure alpha blood coursing through his veins and decided at this point in the bout that Olguin could not hurt him and then prompted Olguin to bring that s***. And no, it didn’t work, but any one of those haymakers could have landed wrong and broken one of Olguin’s hands. Then what? TKO win for Ojeda.

In reality though, uh, an exceedingly terrible idea and it played out as expected. Hands down, man down.

Ferrin Marcelin vs. Yannick Krahenbuhl
Michael Reddemann vs. Sovankesa Som

Going full “Hulk smash!” on people is the theme of the week so far, with Lights Out Extreme Fighting’s Ferrin Marcelin also unleashing brute force to pick up a win.

Nine out of ten times, you probably shouldn’t attempt to slam your way out of a triangle. But that one out of ten times where it works? Chef’s kiss.

You know what technique works ten out of ten times? Kicking someone in the head and or face area.

Take it away, Michael Reddemann.

When head movement goes wrong. Poor Sovankesa Som leaned his head back into the exact wrong spot and caught every part of Reddemann’s foot.

Watch a free replay of the appropriately named Lights Out Xtreme Fighting 15 on YouTube.

Ruka Tokito vs. Ryusei Kuratomi

This DEEP Nagoya Impact event? Also appropriately named.

As I said, head kick works every time. In this instance, it was Ruka Tokito guaranteeing himself a victory by throwing this chin right to the chin and leaving Ryusei Kuratomi slumped against the bottom rope. For anyone who says you can’t get too hurt in an amateur bout, well, maybe show them this clip.

While you’re at it, get those same people to listen to the audio of this punch.

That’s actually from a pro bout between puncher Shoya Oiwa and punchee Takamasa Nogi, but my point stands. Fighting is scary!

A free replay of DEEP Nagoya Impact 2024 is available on YouTube.

Jack Schaal vs. Tyler Triplett

Back to Hulk smashing, amateur style. From Caged Thunder 26 in Akron, Ohio:

I don’t know what Tyler Triplett did to make Jack Schaal angry, but Schaal found it in himself to summon the spirit of Brock Lesnar and send Triplett to Suplex City. This was a one-way ticket too because once Triplett’s body hit the mat, he wasn’t getting up.

Isaac Muluh vs. Shadrack Nsua

Isaac Muluh’s wild swings in this next clip might seem amateurish, but there’s no arguing with their effectiveness.

From EFC Worldwide 112 in Sandton, South Africa.

Shadrack Nsua was bullying Muluh before two looping shots turned the fight around in seconds. That’s three finishes in three pro bouts for “Supremo,” who should also be comfortably favored in any nickname contest.

Igor Siqueira vs. Eimar Hernandez
Mark Choinski vs. Noah Lindsey
Kurtis Ellis vs. Canon Swanson
Salvador Hernandez vs. Martin Alvarado

To the land of UFC Fight Pass we go, first stopping at LFA 181 in Prior Lake, Minn., we’re Iqor Siqueira popped Eimar Hernandez with a right hand down the middle to capture a vacant interim flyweight title.

He landed that bad boy in the middle of an exchange too, you have to love it. With the win, Siqueira presumably sets up a match with flyweight champion Eduardo Henrique. That, or he gets a Contender Series call-up.

Mark Choinski is also more than deserving of a shout after snatching this beautiful armbar with just three seconds remaining in Round 1.

It takes great awareness to recognize that 10-second clapper, assess your position, and then execute a submission like that. Choinski, 5-0, four first-round submission wins. Don’t mess with this guy on the ground.

Lastly from LFA, we regretfully have to add to the ever-growing list of failed Masvidals with Canon Swanson as our latest entrant.

If head kicks are successful every time, flying knees are probably more of a 25 percent proposition and in this case we saw the 75 percent outcome. Kurtis Ellis simply waited, loaded his left hand, and then shot a clay pigeon out of the air.

Now you can click on over to Ultimate Warrior Challenge 52 in Tijuana, Mexico, where Salvador Hernandez shut Martin Alvarado with a textbook two-punch combo.

This was the pro debut for both under-25 fighters, so Hernandez can claim the bragging rights and Alvarado can hopefully take a lesson from the 95 seconds that it lasted.

Jong Pil Kim vs. Jung Won Lee
Jun Hwan Lee vs. Sang Yul Kim
Dong Hyun Shin vs. Valentin Compagnon

For fans of the superior rule set, you should thoroughly enjoy what Jong Pil Kim and Jun Hwan Lee did at Ring Championship 4 (free replay available on YouTube) in Seoul this past weekend.

When you hit the ground in Ring Championship, you are not safe; nay, the danger actually escalates as you can see in the highlights above. As soon as they saw their opponents in a compromised position, Kim and Lee aimed some incredibly vicious knees at their faces. The result? Another mark in the win column and a bit of blood.

Muay Thai fighter Dong Hyun Shin didn’t draw blood with his finish, though I would be surprised if this spin kick to the liver didn’t result in internal bleeding.

I’d believe that he might have cracked a rib there too, the way Shin drove that heel into Valentin Compagnon’s midsection.

Jake Peacock vs. Kohei Shinjo

I’m assuming most of you heard about Jake Peacock’s impressive ONE Championship debut at One Friday Fights 58 in Bangkok last Friday, but in case you missed out, check out the limb-different fighter’s highlights below and read more about him here.

Peacock is missing part of his right arm, but that didn’t stop him from throwing elbows and head kicks with the best of them. He went on to win a unanimous decision over Kohei Shinjo.

There’s that old saying about how you don’t want to be a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest, but Peacock showed that you can still kick plenty of ass even if you’re differently abled.

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.