Missed Fists: Walk-off KO weekend, fighters spinning and winning, David Michaud’s mystery finish, more

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.

No fancy intro needed this week as there were almost too many highlights and oddities to count, so instead let’s start by thanking Twitter fight fanatics @Grabaka_Hitman and @Jolassanda, two of MMA’s most dedicated distributors of clips and gifs. Without their contributions, and the contributions of many others, this feature would not exist. So make sure to give them a follow.

Djamil Chan vs. Alejandro Martinez

This weekend saw not one, but two spectacular walk-off knockouts, the first coming courtesy of former Bellator lightweight Djamil Chan. For those of you who don’t know, Chan is an autistic athlete who has learned to work through his condition while also carving out a path for himself as professional MMA fighter with a respectable 15-4 record.

Chan was making his Brave Combat Federation debut on Saturday in Tangier, Morocco, and he set the tone for the rest of the card with a 29-second walk-off KO of Alejandro Martinez.

Love the reggaeton air horn.

Chan caught Martinez with a stiff right hand and immediately knew this one is over. You can see the fight in its entirety above and then head on over to FloCombat where BCF 14 is available for replay via their subscription service.

Beslan Ushukov vs. Vitor Pinto

The other contender for walk-off of the weekend is this spinning effort from Beslan Ushukov, which he broke out at World Fighting Championship Akhmat 50 on Saturday in Moscow, Russia.

It seems to take Ushukov a half-second longer than Chan to realize what he’s done to opponent Vitor Pinto, but the degree of difficulty on the strike is definitely higher. Ushukov, a 6-foot-1 welterweight from Grozny, has won six of his last seven bouts to improve to 16-3 as a pro.

That wasn’t the only highlight from WFCA 50.

Alexey Efremov vs. Nodar Kudukhashvili
Evgeny Goncharov vs. Zelimkhan Umiev
Azam Gaforov vs. Imran Bukuev

While we’re on the topic of spinning and winning, check out middleweight Alexey Efremov making like a blender to pulverize Nodar Kudukhashvili’s insides.

In the heavyweight championship co-main event, Evgeny Goncharov wrested the title from Zelimkhan Umiev in a brief, but entertaining battle that saw both men throwing haymakers in round one.

It was Goncharov who get the better of the exchanges, crushing Umiev with a left hook before finishing with some furious ground-and-pound.

And just to show that it isn’t always about finishes, make sure you check out the interim championship bout between a pair of promising and undefeated flyweights, Azam Gaforov and Imran Bukuev (starts around the 1:47:00 mark in the promotion’s YouTube link for the event).

Bukuev is just 22 years old and tastes the canvas first, suffering an early knockdown at the hands of Gaforov. It’s clear Gaforov is the crisper boxer, but Bukuev is willing to absorb some punishment to get in close. In round two, he goes for a nice-looking triangle, though his all-out grappling style also leads to him eating a knee later in the period.

Gaforov, 27, definitely has a lot of potential and he starts to pull away in the championship rounds. Bukuev is with him every step of the way, throwing hands and trying to take this one down to the mat to the very end. After 25 minutes of action, it’s Gaforov who walked out with the majority decision and the hardware.

And now what everyone really reads this for, the oddities.

Tsukuru Midorikawa vs. Hiroki Shishido

From the KNOCK OUT SUMMER FES.2018 kickboxing show in Tokyo on Sunday, we get one of the ugliest cuts from an elbow that I can recall seeing. I mean, this is a straight-up vertical slice by Tsuruku Midorikawa on Hiroki Shishido.

I don’t even want to write about this anymore, I just wanted to help it so I don’t have to be alone in seeing it. If you must see more though, the full event is available for replay on the promotion’s Twitter.

Bruno Silva vs. Netto Maccari

From Saturday’s Max Fight 20 show in Sao Paulo, Brazil, we have Bruno Silva a.k.a. “Bruno Bolt” (great name) redefining what it means to be a one-legged man in an ass kicking contest.

It’s my understanding that this was both Silva and opponent Netto Maccari’s first professional bout, so let’s hope he doesn’t expect to pull off this kind of maneuver quite so easily in the future.

David Michaud vs. Corey Davis

We end this edition of Missed Fists with another finish that you probably won’t see again anytime soon, David Michaud somehow going from defending against a backpack attack to winning by TKO in the span of about five seconds.

This preliminary welterweight bout from Bellator 204, which took place Friday in Sioux Falls, S.D., came to a strange close when Corey Davis slipped off of Michaud’s back and immediately ate a punch to the dome as he shot in again to resume the grappling. Stunned, Davis succumbed to strikes on the mat shortly after.

That’s my best guess anyway. Upon first glance, it looked like the mere act of falling was enough to temporarily immobilize Davis. While I’m sure he was wearing a cup, maybe next time he’ll invest in some extra padding for his backside.

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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.