Missed Fists: ‘Adesanya Slayer’ Alex Pereira becomes Glory champ-champ, 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 there’s an MMA show every other day.

Israel Adesanya fights this weekend, looking to unify his interim UFC championship with undisputed titleholder Robert Whittaker. “The Last Stylebender” has yet to be defeated in MMA, and while that could still be true after Saturday, he has lost in kickboxing. Coincidentally, the only man to ever knock Adesanya out was recently reached a career milestone of his own.

Alex Pereira vs. Donegi Abena

AL: Yes, folks, that is Alex Pereira, a.k.a. The Adesanya Slayer.

Pereira K’d Adesanya the F O back in 2017, and he’s been doing pretty well for himself since, logging multiple Glory Kickboxing middleweight title defenses and capping his run of success off with an interim light heavyweight title win against Donegi Abena this past Saturday in Miami.

Let’s take another look at this one.

JM: Look, I’m not gonna sit here and pretend I am a hardcore kickboxing fan. I watch more than the average bear but I’m no Lucas Bourdon.

That being said, I can confidently say that Alex Pereira is the greatest combat athlete in the world and everyone from Izzy to Jon Jones should be shaking in their boots.

AL: Facts.

JM: That goes for Stipe too. Everyone is officially on notice.

Mario Aguilar vs. Tim Eschtruth

AL: Imagine being Tim Eschtruth here.

You’re coming off a quick first-round submission in your last fight, plus an appearance in Rizin earlier this year that, no, didn’t go your way, but still, that’s a nice thing to have on the resume. Your opponent, Mario Aguilar, is 0-3. One of those losses, you gave to him. Time to get a winning streak going.

Then this happens:

JM: MMA is a cruel mistress. Getting slept six seconds into a bout against a guy you’ve already beaten is maybe the harshest outcome I’ve ever seen. Almost as harsh as that right hand. Eschtruth is knocked unconscious instantly, you can see the way he collapses onto Aguilar’s shoulder. That’s really like a four-second KO.

And props to Aguilar. If I started out 0-3 in fighting, I’m gonna end my career at 0-3 and just assume I’m not built for the sport. Instead, Aguilar took a fourth fight, against a guy he already lost to, and turned in a highlight reel he can tell his grandkids about.

AL: Getting sentimental in your old age.

Both Glory 68 and World Xtreme Cagefighting 82 are available for replay on UFC Fight Pass.

Roman Ogulchanskiy vs. Joao Paulo Rodrigues

Here’s what I wrote about Joao Paulo Rodrigues after he was featured in Missed Fists being brutally KO’d less than two weeks ago:

This was fight No. 58 for Rodrigues and he actually has No. 59 already scheduled. Let’s hope that wiser heads prevail here and Rodrigues takes time off instead.

He did not take time off.

Here’s Rodrigues fighting Roman Ogulchanskiy at United Donbass 2 in Donetsk, Ukraine. Warning: This is awful.

JM: In the words of the poet warrior Tupac Shakur, “I gotta get paid. Well hey, that’s the way it is.” Cooler heads rarely prevail, especially when the commissions don’t do their jobs.

And not to quibble with the fight genius Caposa, but I’m not sure this qualifies as a spinning wheel kick. Ogulchanskiy doesn’t land the KO blow with his heel, but with his foot. This looks, to me, more like a spinning back kick to the face, which is arguably harder to do.

AL: I’m sure the difference will make Rodrigues feel a lot better.

JM: Speaking of wheel kicks…

*Adopts Crocodile Dundee voice* now THAT is a wheel kick. Well done nameless fighter. We salute you.

AL: We make it a point here at Missed Fists to always name the fighters involved in these clips, but for the life of me I could not identify the participants in this Muay Thai championship bout from Gorilla Fighting Championship 17; on the other hand, there was no way we could leave this out.

You can watch the full event for yourself on YouTube, the fight in question begins around the 5:11:00 mark. If anyone has any info, help!

Johnny Iwasaki vs. Paulo Bananada

AL: And now, a fighter getting krunk between rounds:

JM: Paulo Bananada instantly just became the most relatable fighter in the world.

AL: Johnny Iwasaki who won a decision here, but it’s Bananada who ended up being the real story.

According to reporter extraordinaire Guilherme Cruz, Bananada’s team wasn’t in his locker room before the fight for whatever reason so to feel better about being abandoned, he had himself a cold one. Then he took another sip after round one “as a form of protest.”

Say it with me everyone: “Is normal.”

JM: Let’s be honest with ourselves, beer and fighting go together like peanut butter and jelly. This man is a true pioneer and I guarantee you there are a bunch of old school fighters who saw this and were just like, “Now that guy gets it!”

Thales Leites vs. Jonathan “Pitbull”
Paula Cristina vs. Ana Costa
Wallace Lopes vs. Gabriel Taborda
Rangel de Sa vs. Paulo Henrique

AL: We have some truly grotesque knockouts to talk about soon, but first, a big shout-out to Good Guy Thales Leites here for participating in an exhibition bout against a young man with special needs and letting Jonathan “Pitbull” absolutely put it on him:

I know some people might find these exhibitions corny, but I am admittedly a sucker for them.

JM: Anyone who isn’t a sucker for these things is a broken person. This is tremendous and suddenly it’s very dusty in here and I need to excuse myself.

AL: Also, this one reply is too good:

Now, back to our usual cold-hearted programming. Take it away, Paula Cristina, Wallace Lopes, and Rangel de Sa!

JM: Alright Shooto, I see you. You’re bringing the heat and the feel goods. What about the naps though? Anyone getting full-on slept?

Oh. Oh I see. But what about a “He Fell Funny?” Got any of those for me?

Well damn. Shooto just attacking from all angles this week.

AL: Watch that counter-right, y’all! It’ll bite ya!

Dony Matos vs. Federico Betancourt

I said watch the counter-right!

JM: Quick, someone call the police. Fake Dominick Cruz just got assaulted.

AL: From Combate 45 last Friday, we have probably the best MMA knockout of the week. Admittedly, pitting 19-6 Dony Matos against 3-6 Frederico Betancourt is kind of icky, but we don’t make the matchups here at Missed Fists. We just sift through the detritus.

JM: Wooooooow. I’m not trying to reignite our beef with Campbell McLaren but uh, that’s not exactly what you’d hope to see in matchmaking. Certainly makes us feel less excited about what is otherwise a very nice right hand.

AL: Who’s this “our” you speak of?

Tom Aspinall vs. Mickael Ben Hamouda

JM: You know who we can get excited about though? Tom Aspinall.

From Cage Warriors 107 (available on UFC Fight Pass):

Sure, Aspinall was taking on a 2-0 fighter, but that’s still a winning (and undefeated) record as opposed to having lost twice as many as he’d won. And Aspinall made it look easy.

This kid probably isn’t going to barnstorm the UFC and win titles but, he’s a heavyweight prospect and that’s a rare enough commodity in this sport.

AL: Just 26, Aspinall made the most of a main event opportunity, starching Mickael Ben Hamouda in under a minute. Get hyped!

Kota Matsui vs. Takuya Saito
Issei Tamura vs. Katsushi Sugiyama

JM: In a just world, Takuya Saito would have been declared the winner here in this Pancrase 308 (also available on UFC Fight Pass) matchup with Kota Matsui.

AL: Agreed. The scorecards were read in favor of Matsui, but Saito landed this:

JM: Whenever someone finally gives me an organization to run, the rules will clearly stipulate that anyone who lands something completely insane automatically wins the round because that’s how it should be.

Michel Pereira will be our champion and will remain undefeated for two decades before being inducted into the JMFC Hall of Fame as our inaugural member.

AL: Speaking of future JMFC Hall of Famers, Kid Yamamoto’s KRAZY BEE camp is still going strong, as evidenced by Issei Tamura’s performance on Sunday.

Tamura never really got to show what he could do in the UFC, getting matched up with Raphael Assuncao and T.J. Dillashaw in his second and third appearances for the promotion. Here he is six years later just DETONATING this fool:

JM: Long live Kid Yamamoto.

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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.