Missed Fists: Dazed fighter punches air after brutal standing 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.

This just in: MMA can be hazardous to your health!

A few fine folks on the regional and international scene found this out the hard way this past week, starting with a trio of fighters who probably would have been better served by their bodies knowing when to quit.

(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.)

Francisco Obando vs. Carlos Jimenez
Zack Borrego vs. Cameron Presher

From Fury FC 85 in Houston, Carlos Jimenez landed a haymaker on the invisible man after getting rocked on his feet by Francisco Obando.

Obando landed a blazing right across Jimenez’s chin that probably put him out, but his legs locked and his feet remained glued to the mat as he ate a couple of hard follow-up shots. Just a really scary visual.

Big props to referee Patrick Patlan, who stepped in as quickly as he could and likely saved Jimenez from falling face-first to the canvas.

Cameron Presher was not as lucky.

Like Jimenez, Presher ate a big shot—in this case, a hard head kick—and he was saved from falling down by the cage. Zach Borrego followed with punches to a dazed Presher until he landed a huge right that Presher was in no condition to defend himself against.

Rough night for a couple of dudes that are too tough for their own good.

Fury FC 85 is available to watch on UFC Fight Pass.

Rashid Vagabov vs. Zhakshylyk Konurbaev
Mark Gregory Valerio vs. Jaures Dea
Mehdi Saadi vs. Jalal Al Daaja
Omar El Dafrawy vs. Abdulla Al Bousheiri

Also on Fight Pass, UAE Warriors hosted a pair of events this past weekend in Abu Dhabi and yes, we had another finish where a fighter just refused to quit, leading to an uncomfortable scene.

Rashid Vagabov sunk in a deep arm-triangle choke on Zhakshylyk Konurbaev and before Konurbaev could think to tap, he was off to dreamland. We then got a rare “Matua twitch” off of a submission, which was handled well by both referee Sam Amidi and Vagabov. Amidi calmly checked on Konurbaev, while Vagabov attempted to assist him with regaining circulation to his brain. Still, you never want to see it.

The next clip I think we can all enjoy a tad more guilt-free:

Jaures Dea thought he had something there after hurting Mark Gregory Valerio with a body kick, going as far as to tauntingly point at Valerio as if he had him right where he wanted him. To say that the tables were quickly turned on Dea would be an understatement as he waded right into a haymaker from Valerio that turned his lights all the way off.

Mehdi Saadi gave us another shutdown moment with this powerful ground-and-pound knockout of Jalal Al Daaja.

A decent effort from Al Daaja to keep Saadi in his guard, but he allowed Saadi to posture up and fire away. Punches plus gravity equal a stone-cold knockout win for Saadi.

Last one from UAE Warriors action, how about a good old-fashioned clinch knee KO?

Omar El Dafrawy knew what he wanted to do, executed, and left his opponent filled with regret.

Sung Woong Kim vs. Takahiro Komakine

We mentioned Al Daaja needing to tighten up his guard, but Sung Woong Kim stayed loose off of his back and it worked out pretty well for him.

From Black Combat 10 in Seoul:

Rather than invite Takahiro Komakine to grapple, Kim let his legs fly and he somehow managed to land a rare two-hit upkick combo. Seriously, look how that clip starts and then look how it ends. If someone just took screenshots of those two moments and told you they were seconds apart, you’d have no idea how they got from Point A to Point B.

Chris Jimerson vs. Idris Niazi

Over at Spar Star Promotions 58 in Commerce, Calif., Idris Niazi did his best Johnny Walker “TIMBERRRRRRR” impression as he went completely limp after eating a full-on right hand from Chris Jimerson.

There’s your first candidate for Humpty Dumpty Fall of the Year.

Monika Kucinic vs. Aldina Seferovic
Ewelina Wozniak vs. Aleksandra Toncheva

I was in attendance at UFC 297 this past weekend, where my fellow Canadians didn’t fare so well in the cage. Well, not the men anyway.

The men, including heavy favorites Mike Malott and Brad Katona, went 0-7 inside the octagon and it would have been a shutout for The Great White North were it not for the spectacular efforts of Jasmine Jasudavicus and Gillian Robertson who picked up the slack for their male counterparts.

In short, women are badass, don’t forget it.

Here’s Monika Kucinic smoking Aldina Seferovic in just 39 seconds at Valhalla Fight Night 8 in Velenje, Slovenia:

And then there’s the best submission of the week from a KSW show in Warsaw:

That was a truly aggressive triangle choke executed by Ewelina Wozniak and I’m not sure Aleksandra Toncheva knew what hit her. Fortunately, she tapped out before taking any serious damage or getting put to sleep.

So concludes our lesson of the week: Sometimes it’s best to just take that L gracefully and live to fight another day.

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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.