Missed Fists: Fighter falls in scary position after wicked elbow knockout

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.

As we enter the final month of 2022, it’s time for us to take a step back from the craziest of the crazy in the MMA world — I’m talking in-cage 3-on-3 grappling basketball and fighters choking each other out with standard auto safety features — and focus on the normal crazy that is two human beings willingly signing a contract to pummel one another.

Consider this week’s collection of highlights a palette cleanser, if you will.

(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.)

Chad Hanekom vs. In Jae La
Oloan Silalahi vs. Wilem Natalex Munster

Well, that didn’t last long did it?

Even when we’re focusing strictly on MMA, we still end up leading with this grisly scene from Brave CF 66 in Bali, Indonesia. Chad Hanekom made In Jae La pay for lackadaisical clinch defense as he cracked him right on the temple with an elbow that made La go Full Matua.

Never go Full Matua.

“Once again, that stiff arm position, it’s a little alarming to see but it’s not unusual and it’s not a sign of any significant damage,” the commentary assured us. I’m hoping that’s true and that there isn’t any long term damage, but an elbow upside the head like that looks pretty darn significant to me.

I also quite enjoyed Oloan Silalahi just ripping Wilem Natalex Munster off of the cage to finish a rear-naked choke.

If I’m Munster, I’m cheating and grabbing onto that cage for dear life, though knowing my luck I’d probably just end up unconscious with my fingers stuck in the fence. Would be even more embarrassing than getting Matua’d.

Brave CF 66 is available for replay on DAZN.

Kian McCarton vs. Shea Cleland

Hopping over to Iur Fighting Championships 5 in Newry, Northern Ireland, amateur flyweight Kian McCarton scored the submission of the week with a slick flying armbar of Shea Cleland.

McCarton weathered the storm there and waited for his moment, then made Cleland pay for holding onto his leg for too long. Cleland thought he had a trip, but he inadvertently helped McCarton get halfway into position for the aerial submission. That’s MMA for you.

Free fights from Iur Fighting Championships 5 are available on YouTube.

Caio Machado vs. Edison Lopes
Lycidas Allen Crow vs. Cannon Tass

Speaking of armbars, just last night in Vancouver, Canada, heavyweight prospect Caio Machado successfully pulled off a third-straight Battlefield Fight League title defense with a buzzer-beating application of said maneuver against Edison Lopes.

Official time of the stoppage: 4:59 of Round 1.

If Machado’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he was supposed to fight on the Contender Series this past August, but missed out due to visa issues. He’s now won six straight fights, with his past four wins all ending in the first round. Look for him to pop back up on the UFC’s radar soon.

On the prelims, the sad saga of Cannon Tass’ arms continued. Earlier this year, Tass lost his amateur debut courtesy of a Marcus Coward kimura; this time, it was his left arm taking the hit as he had to take a TKO loss when a blocked kick from Lycidas Allen Crow appeared to injure him.

It just sucks to be Tass’ arms, man.

Battlefield Fight League 75 is available for replay on UFC Fight Pass, with the prelims free on YouTube.

Bogdan Guskov vs. Alireza Vafaei

The competition was stiff for this week’s Humpty Dumpty Fall of the Week (we’re excluding the Hanekom KO because there’s nothing funny about Matua’ing someone), but our winner emerged from MMA Series 61 (free replay available on YouTube) in Yerevan, Armenia.

Bogdan Guskov blasted Alireza Vafaei with a right hand that left Vafaei looking like he was dropping for a takedown against an invisible opponent.

The stand-over was just so unnecessary and yet also so, so cool.

Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu vs. Bat-Ochir Batsaikhan

Over at a Road to ONE event in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu landed his own dynamite right, which had Bat-Ochir Batsaikhan twisting and shouting before hitting the mat.

A more than worthy Humpty Dumpty runner-up.

Chris Hill vs. Yu-Joe Lewis Lai
Dylan McGee vs. Hayden Baldwin

And we can’t talk about one-shot bombs without mentioning Chris Hill’s spectacular effort from an Almighty Fighting Championships event in Barnsley, England this past weekend.

You know it’s a good one when you knock your opponent out of frame.

We don’t get to appreciate great grappling defense enough, but thanks to this excellent clip from @CombatSportsUK, we can give amateur Dylan McGee the spotlight he deserves for avoiding all of the submissions. All of them.

Even better, McGee went on to defeat opponent Hayden Baldwin by unanimous decision.

Rustem Kudaybergenov vs. Viskhan Kadirov

What’s that? Not satisfied? You want to see a 10-second mugging? Let’s see what’s out there.

Ah yes, how about Rustem Kudaybergenov going bananas on Viskhan Kadirov at Alash Pride 77 in Almaty, Kazakhstan?

Works for me.

Free fights from Alash Pride 77 are available on YouTube.

Wasi Adeshina vs. Robert Nystrom

Let’s send it to Wasi Adeshina to take us home.

I love watching fighters figure out their opponents and lock in, which is exactly what Adeshina does here. It took less than a minute for Adeshina to switch the lasers on and finish Robert Nystrom with this picturesque knockout sequence.

Fight Club Rush 14 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 Twitter — @AlexanderKLee — using the hashtag #MissedFists.