Missed Fists: Diego Brandao brawls on top of cage in awkward post-fight scrap

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.

Last week, we spent plenty of time catching up with former UFC fighters and that’s how we’re starting off again, though we have a feeling that it’s not who was involved in this first clip that will have you glued to your screen as opposed to what happened.

(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.)

Diego Brandao vs. Mohammad Heibati

Alright, so I’m normally hesitant to highlight clips from Hardcore Fighting Championships, as it’s one of a handful of overseas promotions with sketchy record-keeping (both Sherdog and Tapology are yet to log this latest event) and a hard emphasis on professional wrestling antics (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

Case in point, a featured bout between 18-year veteran Diego Brandao and Mohammad Heibati was overshadowed by a farcical aftermath.

Following a three-round fight that Brandao appeared to win comfortably (he scored a knockdown with a left hook in Round 2 and had the best moment of Round 3), the Brazilian standout climbed the fence to celebrate ahead of the official announcement. Heitabi was determined to share or possibly steal the moment and when he also tried to climb said fence, Brandao wasn’t having it.

See another angle of the above-the-cage scrap here:

That’s obviously the standout moment from this exchange, but there’s so much more and you can watch Hardcore Fighting Championships in its entirety for free on YouTube. For now, here’s a brief rundown of what happened after that literal cage fight:

• Separated from Brandao, Heibati throws a tantrum and snatches a title belt away
• Heibati climbs the fence on the opposite end of the cage and starts yelling, Brandao points at him in what is possibly a show of respect
• Unfortunately, Heibati is not having any sort of reconciliation after the decision is read in Brandao’s favor, so he kind of just awkwardly lingers around the cage during Brandao’s post-fight interview waiting for his turn to talk
• Heibati has an extended conversation with the in-cage announcer, leaves, comes back, and then asks for a rematch, which Brandao sounds like he’s down for. Signal the awkward hug
• With Brandao now out of the cage, Heibati starts arguing with a different guy!
• It’s literally not until 15 minutes after the fight that Heibati finally leaves

So yeah, Brandao is still fighting and he actually won three out of four fights in 2023! If he doesn’t get that call back from Dana White that he’s long campaigned for, he at least has a grudge match with Heibati waiting for him whenever he wants it.

Wagner Reis vs. Manoel Lorinho
Tiago Pereira vs. Carlos Vini Boy

There’s nothing controversial about our first set of KO highlights from Jungle Fight 122 in Sao Paulo, unless you consider “Good lord should I actually let someone watch this kind of brutality?” to be a question worth asking.

That’s Wagner Reis landing a Chuck Liddell-esque overhand right that produced a Chuck Liddell-esque result. One shot and Manoel Lorinho was left face-down on the mat.

For real, that dude was not moving anytime soon. You eat a shot like that, you should take all the time you need to regain your senses and get up.

The same goes for you, Carlos Vini Boy. Gather your guts up and head to the hospital, ASAP.

With that 56-second knockout, Tiago Pereira improved to 7-0 and successfully left the cage with his bantamweight championship in his first defense of the title.

Argen Chyrakbaev vs. Mukhammadabdullo Abdurakhmonov
Aktilek Muktarali vs. Jasur Nomanov

Was there a sale on counter-punch KOs that I wasn’t made aware of, because Argen Chyrakbaev also let his right hand go to stop a charging Jasur Nomanov at EFC Global 39 and the results were similar to Reis’.

Which is to say, great success.

Precision in the eye of the storm is always enjoyable to see, which is why we have to give props to Aktilek Muktarali for landing not one, but two stiff uppercuts as he brawled with Jasur Nomanov.

Really, Muktarali was landing 100 percent of his strikes during that sequence anyway, but the finishing uppercut was icing on the cake.

EFC Global 39 is available for free replay on YouTube.

Faqar Mohammed vs. Hamid Safi
Kennedy Freeman vs. Annabruna Rados

This past weekend saw several Cage Warriors prospects in action, with Faqar Mohammed and Kennedy Freeman in particular showing out.

At one of the English promotion’s Academy events in Eindhoven, Netherlands, amateur welterweight Mohammed claimed a flyweight belt with this borderline psychic jumping knee knockout of Hamid Safi.

Safi must have some sort of tell because Mohammed read that movement like Matt Damon in Rounders.

At Cage Warriors 164 in Newcastle, England, Kennedy Freeman–the daughter of British MMA pioneer Ian Freeman–improved to 4-0 as a pro with this left hand taparoo that had Annabruna Rados doing the stanky leg.

Rados caught a glancing shot just seconds earlier, but didn’t learn her lesson, which left her open for Freeman to land a more substantial strike.

You can catch Freeman’s Cage Warriors debut and the rest of the Newcastle show on UFC Fight Pass.

Oscar Miguel vs. Misael Barrionuevo
Angel Escobar vs. Matias Hernandez
Damian Ruiz vs. Heber Federico Pereyra

Also on Fight Pass, Fusion FC 69 went down in Buenos Aires yesterday and the highlights were aplenty.

In a 132-pound catchweight bout, Fusion FC flyweight champion Oscar Miguel hit a gorgeous switch knee to set up this finish of Misael Barrionuevo.

That’s nine straight wins now for Peru’s Miguel, a likely candidate to pop up in the UFC soon.

We’ve already featured some outstanding knee knockouts this week, but Angel Escobar might have them all beat with this KO from the clinch that turned Matias Hernandez into one of the Toy Story toys when Andy walks into the room.

We’re short on submission finish love this week, but thanks to Damian Ruiz, we’ve got at least one example of the gentle art to gush over.

Not the most technical setup for a rear-naked choke, I’ll give you that, but Ruiz eventually got where he needed to go, putting Heber Federico Pereyra in an inescapable submission and earning the tapout to capture Pereyra’s featherweight belt.

Andreas Berg Gustafsson vs. Dominic Schober

Time enough for one more highlight? Well, when it’s a 10-second knockout, sure!

From Fight Club Rush 18 in Stockholm, Sweden:

We recently did a DAMN! retrospective on Wanderlei Silva and I can confidently say that Andreas Berg Gustafsson’s hook ‘em-and-book ‘em finish here would make “The Axe Murderer” proud.

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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.