Missed Fists: A twins vs. twins tangle, plus the weekend’s most scintillating submissions

Welcome to the latest edition of Missed Fists where Jed Meshew and Alexander K. Lee 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.

More often than not, we have a bunch of KOs for our readers to peruse, but this time around the emphasis will be on scintillating submissions. However, before we get to any of that, we take peek a peculiar bit of of double trouble that has to be seen to be believed.

Tyburcsy Twins vs. Kluk Twins

JM: I want everyone to know that I’m very serious when I say this: this two-on-two match from a Fame MMA show in Poznan, Poland, might be my favorite thing that has ever happened in MMA.

Everything about it is perfect. Identical twins fighting another set of identical twins, at the same time, in the same cage, with almost an identical outcome. I bet even their respective parents couldn’t tell the difference between what was happening there. Polish MMA is the best.

AL: The whole tag team/squad MMA thing has yet to catch on in North America, and probably for good reason since most of the time it breaks down into absolute chaos and also seems to be extraordinarily dangerous even by the standards of the sport. But this is certainly a curiosity that is worth mentioning.

Unfortunately, my Polish is a tad rusty so I can’t tell you exactly what the exact story is behind this twin tangle, but here’s the promo video for anyone interested:

The fight itself wasn’t much to write home about beyond the oddity of seeing two mirror matches happening simultaneously. The Tyburcys made short work of the Kluks, winning via double TKO.

JM: I’m not entirely sure if this was even a tag team fight because the one twin didn’t chase down the other fight when he finished first but it could be that the other twin just finished so quickly afterward that maybe the first twin didn’t even have the time to get over there. Because they almost finished in identical time!

AL: From what I’m reading, only one twin needed to be finished, the other one just got taken out as well before the fight could be waved off. Regardless, I’m just glad we made it through this without making a Danny DeVito or Arnold Schwarzenegger reference.

Fame MMA 2 streamed live on its website this past Saturday and there doesn’t appear to be a replay available, but keep an eye out for a replay of the twin tussle to be uploaded at some point.

Travis Sumler vs. Cesar Morales
Vinny Magalhaes vs. Rakim Cleveland

AL: Now, let’s get to the meat of this week’s content, the submissions. Specifically, a new segment I like to call, “Who Submitted A Guy Off Of Their Back Better?” Catchy, eh?

In this edition of WSAGOOTBB, we have the relatively unknown Travis Sumler facing off with highly regarded Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Vinny Magalhaes.

Sumler was defending an amateur bantamweight title at Shamrock FC 310 on Saturday in Kansas City, Mo., and midway through round one he jumped up for a guillotine attempt on opponent Cesar Morales. Morales countered with a slam, but Sumler would use some slick chain grappling to lock in an armbar and retain his title.

JM: This was some smooth stuff from Sumler. That guillotine was extremely tight and it was impressive enough that Morales was able to gut his way out of it. Out of the frying pan and into the fire though because the armbar was even tighter.

I’ve said it many times before in this space: jumping guard is a bad idea unless you happen to be extremely lethal from your back. Sumler proved that he is.

AL: Certainly impressive, but how does he compare to one of the best submission artists in the business?

Magalhaes has been on a tear in the 2018 Professional Fighters League season, finishing all four of his opponents, including the two he faced Saturday in Long Beach, Calif. It was his quarter-final finish of Rakeem Cleveland that had tongues wagging, as Magalhaes made the No. 8 seed pay for clinching with him.

Flying triangle into kimura? The disrespect.

JM: Magalhaes is a long-time “he can do whatever he wants as far as pulling guard because there aren’t a ton of people who can roll with him and not end up getting got” guy and this just showcased why.

AL: Speaking of catchy titles.

JM: Magalhaes is a LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT out here jumping on flying triangles like a bantamweight. That is some nasty business and the sequence to end up with that kimura was sublime. Like Wu-Tang, Magalhaes ain’t nothing to eff with, especially on the floor.

AL: He also had a beauty of a submission in the semifinals, completely manhandling Bozit Agaev en route to another kimura in under two minutes.

After years of stops and starts, it looks like Magalhaes is finally putting it altogether and emerging as the top-10 talent many thought he could someday be. And now that I’ve said that, he’s definitely getting KO’d in the final by Sean O’Connell, isn’t he?

JM: Almost assuredly. Not because O’Connell is better than him but because that is textbook Magalhaes.

Remember when he tore through The Ultimate Fighteriand then got obliterated by future champ-champ Ryan Bader? Magalhaes is absurdly talented but he is often his own worst enemy in the cage and it does tend to manifest itself at the worst moments. Fighting for a $1M check would definitely qualify as one of those moments.

AL: Also worth mentioning from PFL 9 was a lightweight semifinal between Chris Wade and Natan Schulte that was probably the best fight of the weekend.

It was an intense back-and-forth bout, with both men looking extra motivated at the prospect of getting that shot at the PFL’s seven-figure prize. And it was made all the more memorable by a controversial finish that saw Schulte eke out a split decision, seemingly on the strength of a pair of takedowns and overall aggression (the raw striking numbers greatly favored Wade).

You can judge the Schulte-Wade fight for yourself and check out Magalhaes’s handiwork for free by visiting the PFL’s Facebook page.

The Sumler-Morales fight can be viewed on Shamrock FC’s YouTube, and the rest of the main card is available with a subscription to FloCombat.

Satoshi Ishii vs. Rokas Stambrauskas

JM: While both of those submissions were of top quality, only one submission can go down as the best of the weekend and those honors belong to Satoshi Ishii who submitted Rokas Stambrauskas with a head scissors at German MMA Championship 17 in Dusseldorf on Saturday.

All due respect to Vinny Magalhaes but this is how you should finish a kimura.

AL: Ishii’s creative kimura-head scissors combo does not fit our strict WSAGOOTBB criteria, but it is definitely a heck of a way to get another grown man to give. We always hear about fighters attacking the legs on the mat, but so many are unprepared when those legs attack back.

Kasey Tanner vs. Arturo Guzman

AL: So long as we’re straying from the original criteria, let’s throw some love to pro debutant Kasey Tanner, who picked up his first official win with a Suloev stretch on Arturo Guzman on Saturday in Tucson, Ariz. at Combate Americas 24.

Suloev stretches, they’re so hot right now.

JM: Putting people in the torture rack is also a very spicy and exotic submission. I don’t know which of these four submissions is better honestly but doing that for your first official win definitely warrants special consideration.

AL: That finish and the rest of Combate Americas 24 is available for reply with a subscription to DAZN.

Aditya Ginting vs. Muhammad Irfan Saputra

AL: As fun as it was to focus on the more bloodless side of MMA for once, we weren’t going to leave the readers without at least one concussive finish and this one is particularly nasty. Coming from the One Pride MMA promotion (surely, there is grounds for one or more lawsuits there) in Jakarta Utara, Indonesia, we have a knockout move that feels like it was conceived in the darkest depths of the underworld, courtesy of Aditya Ginting.

JM: That is hilarious to watch assuming you aren’t Muhammad Irfan Saputra or his relative. If you are then I’m sure it is horrifying. Let’s be realistic though, that can’t be the most effective way to cause damage to a person in that position, right? Wouldn’t Ginting have been better off with a few well-placed punches?

AL: Ginting did eventually go on to finish with traditional ground-and-pound, but I don’t think it’s possible to measure the mental damage he did here.

JM: The fight was probably won the moment he did that. It’s just a demoralizing move to suffer through. Maybe atomic knee drops really are the best offense.

AL: In conclusion, jiu-jitsu is for suckers.

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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.