Missed Fists: Jacob Kilburn wins duel of lightning-fast finishers, 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.

A couple of Missed Fists alums lead off this week, and unfortunately, only one of them would end up on the right side of a highlight this time.

Jacob Kilburn vs. Javanis Ross
Bryant Panezo vs. Devin Paulk

The main event of Island Fights 60, which took place in Atlanta, Ga., featured lightweight prospects Jacob Kilburn and Javanis Ross. If those names sounds familiar, it’s because Kilburn was featured in these parts in August after picking up a 10-second KO, which was actually a touch slower than Ross’s nine-second KO from this past May.

Island Fights matchmakers put two and two together and came up with this headliner, which was all but guaranteed to end in a brutal KO.

Kilburn did not disappoint.

This was an old fashioned pistols-at-dawn duel, and to Mr. Ross, we say there’s no shame in going out back on the mat, iron in hand. As for Kilburn, he failed to make much of an impression on his Contender Series audition last year, but you have to imagine the UFC will take another look at him after back-to-back performances like this.

Another fighter that is almost guaranteed to get a call from a major promotion soon if he keeps winning is welterweight Bryant Panezo. He is a... character, to put it nicely.

Panezo improved to 2-0 as a pro with a nice armbar, and then proceeded to challenge Henry Cejudo for the “King of Cringe” title with his post-fight promo:

In one fell swoop, “Rico Ridge” pulled off three things:

1. Came off as a cheap and somewhat delusional imitation of The Rock and Conor McGregor
2. Disrespected Din Thomas, an esteemed and well-liked member of the MMA community
3. Turned the crowd against him in an increasingly awkward scene

On the other hand, we’re talking about him, aren’t we?

Cassius Chaney vs. Santander Silgado

Look, a “He Fell Funny” from the boxing world!

Classic Entertainment & Sports held a boxing event in Hartford, Conn., last Friday, and the main event was a showcase for unbeaten heavyweight Cassius Chaney. Sure enough, Chaney needed a little more than a minute to find Santander Silgado’s chin and leave him dancing all the way to the canvas.

With his win over a 14-year veteran, Chaney is now 17-0.

Shaun Luther vs. Martin McDonough
Ben Ellis vs. Rafail Skouras

And over on the other side of the pond, we have a Cage Warriors show in Cardiff, Wales. The long-running UK promotion is kind of in a rebuilding period with so many of its stars being scooped up by other organizations, but that means there’s a lot of hungry young fighters looking to make an impact, including Shaun Luther and Ben Ellis.

Here’s Luther needing all of 20 seconds to hit Martin McDonough with approximately 75 unanswered punches, give or take:

And then we have Ben Ellis earning an aggressive ground-and-pound finish from inside half guard:

This second clip is extra amusing due to the commentary. Immediately after it’s mentioned that Ellis’s ground punches don’t seem to be doing major damage, he shuts Skouras down.

Island Fights 60, CES Boxing, and Cage Warriors 108 are all available for replay on UFC Fight Pass.

Evgeniy Ignatiev vs. Nikita Baltabaev
Vitaliy Yakubenya vs. Ruslan Dzhafarov

Keeping with the theme of ground-and-pound, our next clip featuring Evegeniy Ignatiev and Nikita Baltabaev from Fight Nights Global 94 (full bouts available on YouTube) isn’t as satisfying since it’s notable more for the referee’s awful officiating than anything else.

This is laughably listed on Tapology as a TKO due to “referee stoppage,” though that makes sense given that this win by Vitaliy Yakubenya was also apparently a TKO:

Russians gonna Russia.

Speaking of which...

Nikolay Aleksakhin vs. Jesse Ronson

There were two “New Fighter Showcase” bouts at last Friday’s PFL show, and while Brendan Loughnane’s debut had all the buzz, it was Nikolay Aleksakhin who was more impressive. The 28-year-old Russian needed less than a round to blast Canadian veteran Jesse Ronson with a knee and finish with ground strikes.

Look for Aleksakhin, a 28-year-old who has already compiled a 25-5 record, to do some serious damage in the 2020 PFL welterweight tournament.

Jade Jorand vs. Silvia La Notte

At Bellator Kickboxing 12 (all fights available for replay on the Bellator App) in Milan, Italy, on Saturday, we had a spectacular head kick knockout that was slightly marred by a reffing controversy.

I know zero about kickboxing matchmaking, but how is Jade Jorand allowed to make her pro debut against Silvia La Notte, an opponent with a 66-17-4 record? I guess it didn’t really matter because Jorand ended up being loss No. 18 for La Notte.

As sweet as that knockout was, it looks like referee Jerin Valel may have partially interfered with the action. No, he did not appear to make any official call for a clean break, but what is he doing so close to one of the fighters if he wasn’t communicating anything? Does it look like La Notte was slightly distracted?

This isn’t the first time Valel has been involved in officiating controversies, so it’s understandable that his involvement here would be scrutinized. In fairness to him, La Notte probably should know to protect herself at all times.

Let’s give Jorand the credit here and move on, shall we?

Janet Todd vs. Ekaterina Vandaryeva
Itsuki Hirata vs. Rika Ishige
Yosuke Saruta vs. Daichi Kitakata
Lito Adiwang vs. Senzo Ikeda

Besides, we want to focus on Jorand’s head kick so we can compare it to the one that Janet Todd laid on Ekaterina Vandaryeva at ONE Championship: Century, a two-part event that took place in Tokyo over the weekend.

That is literally sitting someone down in a fight. Thank goodness this was a Muay Thai bout, so there was no opportunity for follow-up strikes, because Vandaryeva is completely gone once that kick landed.

In an example of the more gentle art, Itsuki Hirata finished in her own way, nailing this slick armbar against Rika Ishige:

Bonus points for locking in the hold with a head scissor as opposed to the usual legs across the body. That looked uncomfortable for Ishige!

And we have one more nasty ground-and-pound finish of note this week, Yosuke Saruta going nuts on Daichi Kitakata:

A trio of ground-and-pound finishes? You know what that means, it’s time for a poll:

This next clip we’ve crammed down at the bottom because it contains a pretty grisly injury, so just scroll past this one if you’re squeamish:

That’s Missed Fists favorite Senzo Ikeda posting his arm on the mat in the worst possible way and just getting mangled. Everyone here at MF HQ wishes him a speedy recovery!

To end on a happy note, check out the entrances of Rodtang Jitmuangnon (who went on to successfully defend his Muay Thai bantamweight title by split decision) and Ishige.

Enjoy the dancing and cleanse the palette of all the broken bones and questionable officiating we just witnessed.

If you want to catch up on full fights from both Century events, you can do so on ONE Championship’s YouTube page and check out our recaps of Part 1 and Part 2.

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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.