Missed fists: Dylan Sheppard scores the cleanest spin kick knockout this year.

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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.

There’s something for everyone in this week’s Missed Fists grab bag, though you may want to check what you have in hand as you may find yourself watching a family friendly, highlight-reel knockout or an extremely not-safe-for-work injury.

Let’s first get rid of all the nastiness.

(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. If you have the time, give them a like and join Twitter . )

Dylan Sheppard vs. Dawson Sampson

I could not be happier starting us off in glamorous Moncton. You may remember New Brunswick’s “Hub City” as having hosted a UFC event in 2018 that actually turned out to be deeply significant in retrospect. Anthony Smith beat Volkan Oezdemir in the main event to earn a shot at Jon Jones, future contenders Sean Strickland and Calvin Kattar picked up big wins on the preliminaries and, most importantly, Artem Lobov fought his last MMA fight.

You can now add Dylan Sheppard and Moncton to their rich history.

Sheppard scored one of the cleanest spin kick knockouts in recent memory, blasting Dawson Sampson right across the face in the first bout of Fight League Atlantic 3 this past Saturday. Both men were making their amateur debuts and it was one they will never forget.

Jahliel Palmer vs. Cole Farsaci
Ezequiel Ricci vs. Pablo Rios

(Warning: The following clips contain graphic imagery of gruesome injuries)

First, let me say that I’m only including these because of the constant prodding of actual devil Kristen King, who almost certainly enjoys writing about injuries more than should legally be permitted.

It’s our responsibility here at Missed Fists, to record the good and the bad. If you are smarter than me, or did your best to avoid these breaks, please know this is business.

First, here’s Jahliel Palmer just destroying Cole Farsaci’s arm with a kimura at Cage Wars 52 (free replay available here) in Schenectady, N.Y.

This Farsaci fight was his first professional amateur bout. While I admire that he is made from tougher material than me, I ask that you tap for the sake of all that’s sacred.

Pablo Rios was not even fortunate enough for that opportunity.

There’s nothing to see, is there? Two fighters trade leg kicks. Then, just 17 seconds into the fight, the worst happens and suddenly we’re getting a close-up, lingering shot of Rios’ completely broken leg.

That’s it. I’m out. No more MMA for this guy. I leave this awfulness in your hands.

Randall Ray vs. Richie Fa’aoso

Let me just kick back for a second with the soothing sights and sounds of wholesome Australian backyard bare-knucklin’. Randall Ray sent this video, and it has a great finish with some beautiful sportsmanship.

Ray scored a terrible calk kick finish last season when it was the new craze. This led him to share his story about how difficult his childhood was.

Dong Jo Joo vs. Min Je Park
Jin Young Lee vs. Gyu Tae Seo

That was fun, but I’m still struggling to shake off that injury imagery. Maybe a few quick KOs from South Korea’s Angel’s Fighting Championship can help.

That is the stuff.

The first one-shot finish featured there is courtesy of Dong Jo Joo, who squared Min Je Park up and leveled him with a punch on the button for a 20-second knockout.

Just one fight later, Jin Young Lee topped that by needing just 15 seconds to land a one-shot head kick knockout on Gyu Tae Seo.

You can watch the full Angel’s Fighting Championship 19 for free on YouTube.

Luana Santos vs. Beatriz Ferreira
Claudio Quintana vs. Ivan Castillo

OK. My stomach is settled. We can go back to appreciating the joo-jeet-zoo. And there was a lot of it to enjoy.

From Standout Fighting Tournament 34 (free replay available on YouTube) in Sao Paulo, Brazil, here’s 22-year-old bantamweight Luana Santos improving to 3-0 with the second leg Americana of her pro career.

You know, I’m something of an MMA expert myself, so here’s some free advice for Santos’ next opponent: Watch out for that leg Americana.

At a Combate Global Miami event, one of our coolest stories was that Claudio Quintana, Enrique Gonzalez’s teammate, stepped up to the headlining role on less than seven days notice and beat Ivan Castillo using a stunning armbar.

That’s six straight wins now for the Chilean lightweight, who hadn’t fought in over two years. You can read more about the circumstances surrounding Quintana’s last-minute appearance here.

Pablo Sabori vs. Angel Rodriguez
Luis Meraz vs. Jesus Ramos
Aaron Canarte vs. Walter Reyes

Two title fights headlined Ultimate Warrior Challenge 33 (also available on UFC Fight Pass) in Tijuana, Mexico, and both ended in spectacular fashion.

In the main event, Pablo Sabori used a knee right up the middle to stop a charging Angel Rodriguez and capture a vacant lightweight belt.

Sabori was a difficult act to follow, as Luis Meraz won a vacant featherweight title and a Von Flue choke. And as regular readers know, we are legally obligated to feature Von Flues whenever and wherever they occur.

We are also obligated to feature any knockout that involves approximately a dozen punches landing on the button, as was the case with Aaron Canarte.

Fedor Babich vs. Rafik Hakobyan

Our Did I Do Thaaat? Accidental Knockout of The Week comes from a Black Sea Fighter event (free replay available on YouTube) in Sochi, Russia.

I don’t know if Fedor wanted to land a perfect timed kick here. But he somehow managed to hit a perfectly timed, straight to the head knee and avoided being disqualified.

Yushi vs. Tony Tony Zenki
Kleber Koike vs. Kyohei Hagiwara

Unless you’re a JMMA fanatic, you might not realize that RIZIN occasionally holds their own versions of Fight Night events, such as Thursday’s RIZIN LANDMARK show. We got some delightful clips from this one too as Yushi displayed the beauty of swangin’ and bangin’ and Kleber Koike may have choked his way to a title shot.

That’s just incredible camera work there. Head down, throwing bolos, Yushi putting in work.

In the main event, Koike picked up his sixth straight win, all by submission, and improved to 5-0 in the RIZIN ring with a rear-naked choke finish of an overmatched Kyohei Hagiwara.

That took Koike just 97 seconds and that performance only cemented his case for a featherweight title shot at Juntaro Ushiku. Koike told MMA Fighting this past February that he expects Mikuru Asakura (a guy Koike submitted at RIZIN 28) to get the opportunity over him, but it will be hard to deny Koike now.

Teruto Ishihara vs. Jose Hernandez

No, that is not a typo. Teruto Ishihara is being featured in Missed Fists and he’s back in the win column.

“Yashabo” ended up headlining Urijah Faber’s inaugural A1 Combat show (available on UFC Fight Pass) after an originally scheduled flyweight title fight between Jesse Tafoya and Jack Duffy was postponed due to the fighters getting involved in a backstage brawl.

Ishihara was not disappointed, knocking Jose Hernandez out in round two with a furious knockout.

This is Ishihara’s first win since a unanimous decision nod over Rolando Dy at a UFC event in August 2017 and it snapped a six-fight winless streak. Ishihara is back in the win column, even though his plans for post-fight were scuppered by a minor setback.


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 – @JedKMeshew and @AlexanderKLee – using the hashtag #MissedFists.

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