Missed Fists – Geovane Vargas seems to be giving up after being head kicked by Geovane Vargas

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.

With July 4 celebrations in full swing this past weekend, there were only a handful of cards taking place stateside, but, as always, promotions from around the globe were more than prepared to pick up the slack.

We start off this week with a rare and oddly comforting end to a fight before breaking down the sheer chaos that went down in Abu Dhabi.

(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. )

Bekzat Almakhan vs. Geovane Vargas

It takes a real man to know when enough is enough. Geovane Vargas is a real man.

Bekzat Almakhan was already putting it on Vargas for the better part of three rounds, so you can’t blame Vargas for calling his own stoppage. That was a clean head kick he took at the end of the fight and we should be happy that he had enough of his senses still intact to signal that he was done.

In the first round, Almakhan cracked Vargas as he attempted to jump in with a flying knee, then he landed a big knee to start off the third. All of this was a lead-up to Vargas’ Nope moment, which may as well have served as a free advertisement for Jordan Peele’s upcoming film (in theaters everywhere July 22, folks).

Rare ending aside, the 23-year-old Almakhan is a legitimate bantamweight prospect at 12-1 with all of his wins coming by finish, 10 by knockout.

Octagon League 32 is available for free replay on YouTube.

Jesse Arnett vs. Ali AlQaisi
Adam Meskini vs. Jalal Al Daaja
Xavier Alaoui vs. Fabricio Sarraff
Ali Taleb def. Vinicius de Oliveira
Brian Hooi vs. Wisem Hammami
Jacqueline Cavalcanti vs. Yulia Kutsenko

Hoo boy, where to begin here?

UAE Warriors held two events this past weekend in Abu Dhabi (both available on UFC Fight Pass) and several of the finishes were headline-worthy, but let’s turn our eye towards Saturday’s main event, which saw Canadian veteran Jesse Arnett defeat Ali AlQaisi to claim a featherweight title.

First a cut stoppage, then sheer chaos.

After a competitive first round, Arnett managed to put AlQaisi on his back in Round 2. As AlQaisi went to sweep, Arnett blasted him with an on-point elbow that immediately opened up a nasty cut. Shortly after, the bout was waved off and Arnett was awarded a TKO victory. AlQaisi was displeased, to say the least.

The recent UFC competitor was already heated due to Arnett throwing a punch as the referee stepped in to separate them so that the cut could be examined and losing his title due to a doctor stoppage only incensed him further. Plenty of jaw-jacking ensued and people piled into the cage to break up the confrontation. Arnett finally gave up and escaped the cage. It was quite funny.

Eventually, the cage was cleared and Arnett had the chance to celebrate his victory. Arnett also took advantage of his interview post-fight to express his gratitude for AlQaisi, and ask for an immediate rematch.

MMA Fighting reached UAE Warriors officials to get their opinion on the matter, but they have not yet heard back.

That wild moment just edged out a pair of insane comebacks, courtesy of Adam Meskini and Xavier Alaoui.

Meskini’s comeback straight-up makes zero sense as there were about three different times the bout could have been stopped in favor of his opponent Jalal Al Dajaa.

Al Dajaa was the aggressor in Round 1, where he scored a head kick knockdown.

Not only was Meskini in trouble early, the commentary pointed out that it looked like he had a left ankle injury and he got knocked down two more times.

I swear the referee was going to step in there, but he just pulled himself back and the bout continued. It’s possible that Al Dajaa actually punched himself out.

A right uppercut wobbled Al Dajaa and he didn’t recover. Only in MMA, I swear.

Not to be outdone, Alaoui pulled off his own amazing comeback against Fabricio Sarraff just moments after being badly hurt.

Sometimes you have to be behind in order to move ahead. Or something.

Ali Taleb won a back-and-forth battle with Vinicius de Oliveira, flattening the top Brazilian prospect in the third to improve to 7-0.

Brian Hooi was the one to beat in UAE Warriors’ weekend. He just launched a head kick KO with a naked punch that Wisem Hammami didn’t see coming.

And then, there’s Jacqueline Cavalcanti.

Any joker can win with a flying knee to the head, but how about a flying knee to the body? Cavalcanti, we salute you.

Moeri Suda vs. Mizuki Oshiro

Big tip of the cap to Moeri Suda as well, who improved to 6-3 as a pro in her debut for RIZIN in Okinawa, Japan, on Saturday.

Armbars are her specialty as you can tell from that beautiful transition. By the way, Suda is still three weeks shy of her 18th birthday. You make them stand out.

Travon Eller vs. Tyler Gates

Let’s end our journey in the good ol’ U.S. of A. and shine a light on amateur light heavyweight Travon Eller, who improved to 2-0 with this nine-second knockout at an Ohio Combat League event in Newark, Ohio.

As quick as that finish was, Eller made the most of his time, landing several punches before Tyler Gates could properly hit the mat. That was, like, three KOs in under 10 seconds really.

Special shout-out to the legend Joey Chestnut, who not only downed 63 hot dogs to claim his 15th Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest crown, but also did his best Charles Oliveira impression when a protester made the mistake of getting too close to the man when he was in the zone.

The young man appears to be uninjured and Chestnut later told USA Today that he felt bad about his aggressive reaction. But hey guy, word of advice: Don’t ever get between a man and his hotdogs.