Missed Fists: Fighter destroyed by brutal face-first slam

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.

Before we proceed to the usual fighting festivities, let’s all give a big thanks to the esteemed Jed Meshew for taking hold of the Missed Fists reins last week while I was on vacation. During my time away, I made a point to do a kind of combat sports detox and not watch any face-punching or limb-snapping.

Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like I missed anything major happening.

(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.)

Ahmed Abdelaziz

Leading us off this week we have action from Arabic Ultimate Fighting Championship 40 in Cairo, Egypt, a card so obscure that it does not currently appear on any notable databases and were it not for Caposa’s typically intrepid cataloging, most wouldn’t even know that it happened.

But it did happen and my goodness it was chaotic.

That’s Ahmed Abdelaziz winning a fight with not one, but two slams, the second of which planted his opponent directly onto their face. This man’s thirst for the armbar overrode his basic survival instincts to the point that he was literally horizontal to the mat as he plummeted towards it and still did not release his submission attempt.

Dedication leading to destruction.

According to caposa, the losing fighter was “okay” afterward. Hopefully the same can be said for these next two unfortunate souls; one another slam victim, the other a winner by disqualification after eating a soccer kick that would make Zlatan Ibrahimovic blush.

If you want to more of AUFC action, check out their YouTube. Just remember, you have been warned of the horrors you might see.

Bogdan Gnidko vs. Damian Piwowarczyk

Apologies to Bogdan Gnidko, who was probably robbed of our lead after recording the fastest knockout in KSW history.

Funnily enough, the last promotion Gnidko fought for before making his KSW debut this past Saturday was called “Lucky Punch.” There was nothing lucky about this finish. That’s just great timing, impressive power, and a bunch of unnecessary follow-up shots.

Gnidko, a 21-year-old light heavyweight fighting out of Ukraine, is now 8-0 with all of his wins coming by way of knockout or submission. Sounds like he has a bright future ahead of him, but he’s going to have a hard time topping this performance no matter what happens next.

KSW 73 is available for replay with a subscription to KSWTV.

Ruben Torres vs. Cristian Baez

The world of boxing gave us more potential headline fodder as Ruben Torres scored one of the most controversial knockout wins of the year.

In the seventh round of their fight at a Thompson Boxing event in Corona, Calif., Torres knocked down opponent Cristian Baez and when the bout was reset, the boxers touched gloves. Less than a second later, with Baez’s hands still down, Torres uncorked a left hand that absolutely demolished Baez.

First things first, nothing Torres did was expressly against the rules. Once the referee calls for the fighters to resume action and gets out of the way, everything that happens between them is fair game. But boy, that is a bad look for Torres from a pure sporting perspective.

Afterwards, Torres was not apologetic.

“They always say protect yourself at all times,” Torres said, according to Boxing Scene. “This is boxing and fighters like myself are always on the attack. The referee gave the signal to start fighting again and I came out guns blazing, especially after I knocked him down.

“I hit him with a left hook and that was it, the fight was over. I’m ready to move on to bigger and better fights as I march up the rankings.”

It’s impossible to watch that clip and not be reminded of Floyd Mayweather’s knockout of Victor Ortiz from September 2011. In that instance, the action was paused after Ortiz hit Mayweather with a headbutt during a flurry and when they touched gloves after, Mayweather just unloaded on him.

Again, perfectly legal, but arguably dirty.

What do you think of Torres’ move here?

Jesus Hernandez vs. Edwin Taboada

After seeing a five-second knockout above, a 15-second knockout seems almost mundane, doesn’t it? Still, let’s give amateur featherweight Jesus Hernandez his flowers.

From Fusion FC 52 in Lima, Peru:

We talk a lot about “being first” in an MMA fight, but Hernandez waited for an opening and pounced on it as soon as he saw it. So I guess he was first in a sense.

Eddie Fraire vs. Drake Lopez
Armus Guyton vs. Edmilson Freitas

Heading on over to Fight Pass, we have one more lightning quick knockout from Fury FC 68, though this one looked a little early, no?

Eddie Fraire caught Drake Lopez coming in and landed at least one good follow-up, so there was definitely serious damage done by those punches. Also, on the replay you can see Lopez’s head wobbling around in a scary way and that’s likely what prompted the stoppage from referee Kerry Hatley.

There wasn’t much of a complaint from Lopez either, not one that was shown on the broadcast anyway, so we’re free to focus on Fraire’s 13-second knockout.

One fighter who definitely won’t be complaining about a stoppage is Edmilson Freitas.

Armus Guyton had him dead to rights with a rear-naked choke and Freitas knew it. Look at the absolute fear in his eyes. Sometimes fans will question why a fighter doesn’t just go to sleep instead of tapping out. Just picture Freitas’ face the next time that discussion comes up.

He saw something. On the other side. And he wanted no part of it.

Junior Melo vs. Adam Assenza

Also on Fight Pass, Junior Melo made sure that he was not one of this week’s sub-20-second KO victims as he authored an amazing comeback against Adam Assenza in the LFA 139 main event.

By all accounts, Assenza was ahead after two rounds, which prompted Melo to make his charge early in the third round and pull out a win. “The Fortaleza Kid” is 2-0 inside the LFA cage now and as we all know, success in the LFA often leads to even bigger opportunities.

Until next week, remember: Always respect people’s boundaries.

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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.