Missed Fists – Norman Parke defeats his heavyweight opponent in a small cage

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.

Here at Missed Fists headquarters, we’re all about living your best life, and few in the MMA world are doing that better right now than Norman Parke.

(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. )

Norman Parke vs. Piotr Szeliga

Yes, that’s Norman Parke. His nine fight run in UFC was just the beginning of his remarkable career. The Northern Irishman went unbeaten in his first five UFC fights, was released after stumbling against stiffer competition, and then bounced around Europe before eventually settling in with KSW where he feuded with Mateusz Gamrot. Parke lost weight twice, and the fight that ended in a draw due to an eye poke was one of his title fights with Gamrot.

Oh, and one of Gamrot’s cornermen punched Parke after their second fight.

But wait! “Stormin Norman” has got it all figured out now.

From Fame MMA 14 in Krakow, Poland:

This is a tiny cage. Like, tiny. Officially 3×3 apparently, but regardless of the actual measurements, it’s fair to say it’s really, really small.

Somehow, Parke and opponent Piotr Szeliga managed to have a fight in it and unsurprisingly, the far more experienced Parke won. Szeliga is listed at heavyweight while Parke is a career 155er, but Parke weighed in at around 195 pounds to Szeliga’s 212 according to Tapology so the difference wasn’t that egregious.

I guess Szeliga can boast a solid social media following with 200K followers both on Facebook and Instagram, and 47K on YouTube, but Parke has 276K followers on IG, so I don’t even know if Szeliga has outdone him there.

He certainly couldn’t hold a candle to Parke in this hybrid rules bout as Parke just pieced him up in the boxing portion and then finished the job when it was time to mix the martial arts.

So that’s Parke doing right now. Not having to cut weight, beating up heavyweights in Poland (see also: Parke vs. Popek Monster at Fame MMA 13), and probably getting a nice paycheck to do it. Parke may have never won a major title — well, unless you count the illustrious The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes tournament, which maybe I do and maybe I do — but if this is the path he’s taking as his career winds down, there are a lot worse things to be remembered by.

Fame MMA 14 is available for pay-per-view replay on famemma.tv.

Vladimir Seliverstov vs. Julio Cezar Santana
Vyacheslav Svischev vs. Belek Aliev

Over at Open FC 19 (free replay available on YouTube) in Samara, Russia, we had a pair of first-round finishes where the vanquished fighter didn’t even have a chance to get out of the gate.

In the co-main event, Vladimir Seliverstov disintegrated Julio Cezar Santana and gave us our Humpty Dumpty Fall of the Week in just 27 seconds of cage time.

Vyacheslav Svischev’s knockout of Belek Aliev just one fight prior was shorter by 21 seconds, but I’d argue that it was even more vicious.

Watch how Aliev reacted to that straight shot to the body, then ducked his head in as Svischev followed up. Turned out to be a bad decision as head met left hand and head lost.

Romero Reis vs. Oskar Merchan

*deep breath*

At Tour Colombia IV Campeonato de Artes Marciales Mixtas 2022 (free replay available on Facebook) in Colombia, Romero Reis and Oskar Merchan ended in seconds after it opened with an accidental groin kick.

Both the fighters were friendly after the foul but it quickly turned from “my fault” to “you are toast” fast.

Ryan Smith vs. Jacob Beach

If an amateur fighter hits a twister, you know they’re getting a Missed Fists shout.

From Rocket Combat Sports 9 (PPV replay available here) in Winchester, Va.:

Although it wasn’t the easiest hold to apply, Smith was consistent and maintained control over Beach’s lower back the entire time. It wasn’t accidental. The twister was his dream, so he did the work and got it. Bravo!

Joshua Van vs. Mario Suazo
Kevin Kent vs. Caleb Hall
Will Spann III vs. Brandon Davis
Michael Pagani vs. Joshua Onwordi

Now let’s see what’s been going down on UFC Fight Pass, shall we?

At Fury FC 62 in Castle Rock, Colo., Joshua Van hit a sweet calf slicer to put away Mario Suazo.

Not gonna lie, I’m a huge calf slicer fan, to the point that I voted Brett Johns for the 2017 Submission of the Year over Demetrious Johnson and his “Mighty Wizbar,” a call that the MMA Fighting staff has yet to forgive me for and for which I haven’t and won’t apologize.

Van (5-1), a 20-year-old flyweight prospect, is a ways away from becoming the next “Mighty Mouse,” but with three straight finishes and all of his wins coming by way of knockout or submission, it won’t be long before he gets his call-up to the big leagues.

Kevin Kent won’t be getting that call anytime soon, but you can assume he’s feeling just fine after landing this one-shot bomb at the halfway mark of the opening round.

A quick glance at Kent’s Tapology page tells us that this was Kent’s first fight since wrapping up a 5-0 amateur career back in 2013. It’s nice to see that he is making up the time.

We saw a rare omoplata submission at Cage Fury FC 108 in Bensalem, Penn., courtesy of Will Spann III. Jed Meshew would be here to discuss how Spann was less due to low-level MMA or poor submission defense. I’ll just respond with the proverbial raspberry.

Straight nastiness.

Lastly, at Venator FC 11 in Pescara, Italy, Michael Pagani perfectly lived up to his nickname with this “Sniper” spin kick to Joshua Onwordi’s body.

Imagine if more fighters took their names as literally as Pagani. How scary would all the “Pitbulls” be? Carlos Condit is “The Natural Born Killer” or, God help us, “The Assassin Baby?” ?”

Maybe it’s better of no one follows Pagani’s lead.

Ross Levine vs. Igor De Castaneda
Artur Gasanov vs. Tommy Azouz
Lazar Kukulicic vs. Mitchell Thorpe

In case you missed it, Karate Combat is back!

The Season 4 premiere featured the one-of-a-kind fight promotion’s usual array of viral knockouts, including this “FINISH HIM” moment from Ross Levine.

In Karate Combat, there is no need to stand against any fences and look for a counter. If you hit the pit wall you need to be ready for your escape or you will get smoked.

Artur Gasanov was the one who matched the violence of the kick, and sent Tommy Azouz’s mouthpiece to another dimension with his spin strike.

Even though the finish was not reached, Lazar Kukulicic’s life-changing smash off the pit wall is worthy of widespread attention.

Kukulicic won a unanimous verdict.

I don’t know if something like that can be done in a cage but it’s something that would make me very disappointed if any MMA fighter attempts. In completely unrelated news, Michel Pereira fights on Saturday.

Talking about innovation and evolution, I’m not sure what this means but I did see it. :

At the very least, this genius maneuver generated some equally brilliant replies:

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