Missed Fists: Tatiane Aguiar lands picture perfect Anderson Silva face kick, more

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’re back after a week off thanks to UFC London throwing all of our schedules off-kilter, which can be forgiven since the event turned out to be one of the best fight nights we’ve ever seen. But as we all know, MMA isn’t always about championships and hometown heroes and inspirational storylines.

Sometimes it’s just about people getting bonked in a really cool way and also one particular really cool person doing a really cool thing. You’ll see what we’re talking about when you get to the bottom of this feature.

(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.)

Tatiane Aguiar vs. Victoria Ferreira
Thiago Queiroz vs. Everson Oliveira

AL: Molly McCann made history this past Saturday with the first spinning elbow knockout by a female fighter in UFC history. At a Metanoia Fight Combat show in Curitiba, Brazil, Tatiane Aguiar gave us another finish that we rarely see on the women’s side of things (or in general, really).

That’s an on-point Anderson Silva front kick to the face and Aguiar probably could have walked off after connecting it was so clean. Watch the HD version in the full event replay above (fight begins around the 2:10:00 mark).

JM: This fight and McCann-Carolina are surprisingly similar in the physical disparity between the two women. Ferreria should watch McCann to learn the best way to track down a lankier opponent is a spinning back elbow. Next time she’ll know better.

AL: Coming in a close second for the second best head kick of that event is Thiago Queiroz braining an exhausted Everson Oliveira in a kickboxing bout.

It looks like Oliveira’s arms had become weights by that point, just dragging him down until the inevitable.

JM: Oliveira went full-on heavyweight, and you should never go full heavyweight when you look like a middleweight.

Anuar Aburto vs. Mario Martinez

AL: We talk about Aljamain Sterling infamously ducking into a Marlon Moraes body kick and getting himself knee KO’d, but how about throwing an overhand right and getting caught like that? That’s what happened last Friday in this 59-second fight between Anuar Aburto and Mario Martinez at a Lux Fight League show (replay available on UFC Fight Pass and Facebook) in Monterrey, Mexico.

JM: One of the main reasons I’ve never been a huge fan of overhands is exactly this. Chuck Liddell should not be an inspiration for your fighting technique. He only made it work because he has a phenomenal chin and when that went, so too did his ability to win. Use a jab! Throw real punches!

Brian Hauser vs. Tevin Dyce

AL: When we first featured “Doogie” in Missed Fists last November, I wondered what Brian Hauser’s reference point for the show would be given that Doogie Howser, M.D. premiered in 1989. I’m ready to move on from that question because I have a new one: does anyone on the regional level want to fight this guy anymore after he snagged another massive uppercut KO?

JM: I mean, I wouldn’t. But maybe he’s becoming a one-trick pony? Just look out for the uppercut and perhaps you can survive? But barring that, I’m out.

Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Tyler Lee

AL: From a Freedom Fight Night event in Miami this past Saturday:

Aside from this being a 26-second knockout, Hamdy Abdelwahab deserves this shine for showing fight IQ that we often fail to see at even the highest levels. Watch as he stuffs a takedown and *gasp* just lets his opponent get up rather than try to be the second coming of Minotauro.

A genius?

JM: All I will deign to say about this event is that Tyler Lee looks very much like what I would expect a man competing at Freedom Fight Night to look like.

AL: And taking a quick stop over to Aranjuez, Spain, we had to show some love for Israel Campano for this insane comeback (full fight available on YouTube).

Sometimes it’s better to be tough than good.

JM: What must it be like to not just throw up 30-24s on your opponent in an amateur fight? But I’m getting ahead of myself. All I’ll say is that neither of these men could handle the Casey-Smesh.

Damian Janikowski vs. Tomasz Jakubiec
Alan Yoshihiro Yamaniha vs. Motonobu Tezuka
Ryuya Fukuda vs. Masayuki Watanabe
Yuki Kasahara vs. Motoki

AL: Let’s check in on a couple of our favorite international majors, KSW and RIZIN.

I think it’s fair to say that no one would mistake Olympic bronze medal-winning wrestler Damian Janikowski’s MMA career as being great, but man he’s had a lot of fun moments as a fighter.

Case in point:

It must be nice when your opponent eats every head shot you throw.

JM: KSW remains the absolute best MMA promotion. Where do the tattoos stop and the painted-on promotion begin?!? Like, would KSW even allow Alexander Volkov to fight for them since he couldn’t draw on an ad for some Polish construction company?

AL: In Osaka, Japan, Alan Yoshihiro Yamaniha took full advantage of PRIDE rules to snag a submission.

There are so many great choke setups, but one we don’t talk about enough? Kneeing a guy in the f****** head.

JM: One of the best setups, really. It’s hard to worry about protecting your neck when your skull is getting caved in.

AL: Ryuya Fukuda must have wanted to show off some of his ground game too, because how else to explain this completely unnecessary H-Bomb that he landed in this 54-second clocking of Masayuki Watanabe?

JM: I don’t mind that shot. It was ultimately unnecessary as the ref was diving in, but Watanabe actually looked like he still had someone home. Maybe not home, in bed, reading with the lights on, but like, one foot out the door, just about to turn off the garage light on his way out. Fukuda just expedited that exit.

AL: And from the ICYMI department, here’s Yuki Kasahara stealing the show with an insanely brutal knee KO of Motoki.

JM: Did he… did he jump out of the ring while kneeing an opponent unconscious?

That may be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.

E. Casey Leydon vs. Fritz Frauendorf

AL: Oh, Casey fought.

So the only reason this didn’t lead this week is because we have a more comprehensive look at our man E. Casey Leydon making his amateur MMA debut and FREAKIN’ WINNING that you should watch right after you’re done reading Missed Fists.

JM: 30-24! 30-24! MMADECISIONS YOU ARE COWARDS FOR NOT PUTTING UP THE SCORES. 30-24!!!!!!!!

AL: I’m sure our colleagues don’t mind me sharing excerpts of the running commentary we had going on in our Slack on Saturday night:

Alex Lee: holy s*** this is really happening

Jed Meshew: For his next one, we’re all flying out and painting our chests and getting unreasonably lit

Shaheen Al-Shatti: We got round one

Jed: Casey is honestly stunting on Fritz on the floor

Damon Martin: Straight up mauling on the ground

Shaheen: Casey smesh!

New York Ric: Somebody hit the papakha photoshop

Alex: I’m tripping right now, I’m tripping

Damon: Casey’s from Dagestan, I knew it

Jed: Casey stone cold beating ass. This is the f******* best

Mike Heck: Casey has opened as a -275 against Paddy Pimblett

We had a good time, is what I’m saying.

JM: THIRTY-MOTHERFRIGGIN-TWENTY-FOUR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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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.