Missed Fists: Fighter opens with Max Holloway taunt, instantly scores knockout

06/09/2024 15:00

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.

We've got the usual sweet slate of highlights for you this week and a Bellator-UFC double bill Saturday, but before you jump into all that, make sure you check out the MMA Fighting fantasy draft we recently did in which we pick teams of 12 UFC fighters (one per division, plus a wild card) based on who is (or could be) competing over the next four months. This was super fun to do and we think you'll dig it.

And make sure to check out the podcast too!

With that plug out of the way, let's get to why we're all here: The face-punching.

(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.)

Mac Papalii vs. Jae Hyuk Heo

Our first Missed Fists highlight of the week comes to us from a Fighter100 Fighting Championship (catchy) show in South Korea. Not only does this clip involve everyone's favorite singing slugger Jae Hyuk Heo, it also has him getting absolutely crowned in seconds.

Mac Papalii went full Max Holloway right out of the gate and it actually paid off as he needed less than 15 seconds to wail on Heo and get the knockout.

Full disclosure, I've never heard of this promotion before and if you check their Instagram page, it was created in August and has one follower, so the whole thing seems shady as hell. But a recap of the event already has almost 150,000 views, so they're doing something right. See for yourself:

Neeraj Panghal vs. Abhishek Rana
Arshiyan Memon vs. Govind Ale
Digamber Singh Rawat vs. Abdul Kahaf

First of all, if you're not following Chris Presnell (@mmaecosystem) on social media, you're missing out on some of the best coverage of the Asian MMA scene. So you should do that immediately.

Done? Good.

Now, here's Neeraj Panghal getting the timing just right on a running knee at a Matrix Fight Night event in Noida, India.

Game of inches right there, just like that Baltimore-Kansas City game last night, am I right? Obligatory NFL season kickoff reference out of the way.

Hey look everyone, it's Herb Dean!

Arshiyan Memon landed a beautiful right hand en route to that knockout, which was muddled by a classic Herb Dean-ing of the finish. Dean steps in as Govind Ale is defending against a submission, choosing to wave it off then as opposed to saving Ale when he was initially dropped or giving him a chance to recover and fight the choke. A-plus officiating!

And an A-plus beatdown by Digamber Singh Rawat:

You can watch a replay of Matrix Fight Night 15 for free on YouTube.

Dong Hwan Lim vs. Tae Young Yoon
Artur Soloviev vs. Hae Jin Park
Ji Yong Yang vs. Aleksey Indenko

Over at Road FC 69 in Wonju, South Korea, folks were getting straight hammered as defense took a backseat to pure, unfettered aggression.

Nowhere was this exemplified better than in this 90-second brawl-for-all between Dong Hwan Lim and Tae Young Yoon.

Lim entered the contest with a 5-6 record and you can see why. He fights with the mentality of "heads, I win; tails, you lose," which makes no sense, but neither does anything that happened in the above exchange.

To Hae Jin Park's credit, he at least tried to show presence of mind on defense here, it just didn't work. At all.

Artur Soloviev sent a flying knee right through Park's guard, which had to make the impact that much worse. It's one thing to eat a shot like that, it's another to get cracked when you think you've got adequate protection. Kept the gloves high, but not tight enough.

Got 30 seconds to spare? Here's Ji Yong Yang entering murder mode to dust Aleksey Indenko.

Watch full free fights from Road FC 69 for free on YouTube.

Trent Miller vs. Marcus Nash
Kaleo Meheula vs. Cris Mims

I think we can all agree that Israel Adesanya's "frozen like Elsa" line is one of the corniest in MMA history, but you know what, if the shoe fits…

That's Trent Miller putting Marcus Nash on ice with a right hand that Nash stepped right into. Shades of what Yuneisy Duben did on Contender Series this week. All of the impact focused squarely on Nash's chin. Bonus points for Miller knowing that no follow-up was necessary.

Also from United Fight League 5, we have to shout-out Kaleo Meheula's knockout of a bloody Chris Mims, too.

It's one thing to win a fight, it's another to keep your composure with a crimson-faced zombie bearing down on you. Well done.

And in case you missed it, make sure you check out Vince Morales' unique twist on the Peruvian necktie that won him the evening's main event.

Alibek Kuzhbaev vs. Ali Gharedaghi

Did we mention that there was a 20-second wheel kick knockout at a Naiza FC show in Aktau, Kazakhstan? Well, here it is.

Alibek Kuzhbaev sent poor Ali Gharedaghi flying with that spinning strike. Gharedaghi will be seeing that one in his nightmares.

Naiza FC fights can be watched for free on YouTube.

Luan Pedroso vs. Demison Rodrigues
Marcos Aurelio vs. Andrey Silva

If that wasn't enough spinning and winning for you, then load up that UFC Fight Pass and check out LFA 191, where Luan Pedroso landed a gorgeous kick right on the money to set up a finish.

Not sure what's more impressive, the strike itself, or the fact that Demison Rodrigues wasn't immediately rendered a department store mannequin.

For a deeper prospect dive, check out caposa's cut of 20-year-old Brazilian wunderkind doing his thing against Andrey Silva.

Maximum style points to the young bantamweight, who is now 6-0 after putting on a show and capping it with a walk-off knockout.

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.