Welcome to Missed Fists, highlighting overlooked MMA fights from around the world in today’s busy combat sports landscape.
This year has seen much discussion about cheating in combat sports, especially eye pokes in the UFC. These illegal moves have been prominent in main events at several UFC events.
At MMA Fighting, we generally dislike cheating. However, realistically, if someone can get away with it and keep winning, they might continue.
With that in mind, let’s look at Contra MMA 6 in Poland, where a rules infraction led to an unexpected advantage.
Daniel Czarniecki likely didn’t intend to cheat in his amateur fight against Mikolaj Koguciuk.
At the beginning of the second round, Czarniecki accidentally kicked Koguciuk in the groin. Despite being unintentional, the kick landed hard, and Czarniecki paused his attack. The referee urged them to continue, leaving Czarniecki to proceed.
What happened next was dramatic. Koguciuk, still affected by the low blow and possibly not hearing the referee, turned his back to Czarniecki and became an easy target. A left punch knocked Koguciuk’s mouthpiece out, and a follow-up punch sealed the knockout.
Sometimes, unfortunately, cheating seems to pay off.
Moving on, our next example is about overambition. Young Ji Yong Yang tried to move up in weight at Road FC 72 in Seoul on short notice.
Stepping in for a dropped opponent, Yang, a bantamweight, jumped to lightweight on two days’ notice. However, his eagerness was not rewarded as Nandin Erdene, the larger fighter, quickly defeated him in under 90 seconds.
It’s back to the drawing board and 135 pounds for Mr. Yang.
Elsewhere on the same event, flyweights Ye Jun Pyun and Sin Woo Lee had an intense staredown.
Pyun stared down at Lee with a grin reminiscent of a villain, and, as it turned out, he won.
Despite appearing tired in the second round, Pyun unleashed spinning attacks. Seeing an opening in Yun’s defense, Pyun finished the fight with two right hands to the chin.
Free Road FC fights are available on their YouTube channel.
There’s a saying that anyone with three names sounds like a serial killer. This came to mind watching Jean Alexander Romano defeat Nick Thornton at a Beatdown Promotions event in Australia.
Thornton’s head seemed to hit a ring post. Even with padding, it must have been painful, judging by his vacant stare.
At Real Fight Arena 20 in Slovakia, Branislav Zuzak seemed inspired by Fabricio Werdum, rushing in on Maicon Kobayashi. If you remember Werdum’s fight with Stipe Miocic, you can imagine the outcome, but it’s still worth watching.
Face met mat.
Marcel Simo was dominating Daniel Konyari, who was cornered and out of options. Konyari attempted a desperate takedown, but Simo countered with a jumping knee, ending the fight.
From National Fighting Championship 174 in Atlanta:
It wasn’t a good night for telegraphed takedowns.
Cole Ferrell scored an 18-second knockout when Cody Shelton tried to simply throw wild shots. It backfired.
Javanis Ross was slower than Ferrell (his KO took 39 seconds), but he earned style points.
Ross landed a spinning kick to Louis Brewington’s chin, resulting in an instant knockout.
Despite Ferrell’s quick finish, Miguel Suazo had an even faster 12-second knockout at Tuff-N-Uff 142 in Las Vegas.
Suazo landed a powerful left hand on Aaron Casey. Casey appeared confident, but his chin proved vulnerable, and Suazo capitalized.
Also, check out Diego Brandao’s impressive spinning wheel kick knockout from the same event. It was so spectacular, it could lead to his return to the UFC.
If you’re unfamiliar with “coffin nails” in combat sports, Jesse Roberts provides a clear example.
After knocking Omar Rzgoev down, Roberts followed up with punches that left Rzgoev completely still, truly fitting for a “coffin.”
Former Bellator champion Yaroslav Amosov also competed at Cage Fury FC 140 and quickly defeated Curtis Millender. Could both Amosov and Brandao be seen in the UFC this year?
Kevin Pastran vs. Martin Rafael
One more from Fight Pass, from Fusion FC 88 in Peru this past Wednesday.
Kevin Pastran waited for Martin Rafael to approach, then countered a poorly executed kick with a sharp right hand.
The impact was so clean it made Rafael wobble like a Wavy Tube Man.
