Missed Fists: Daniel Swain takes Xialong Wu for a ride on the guillotine, 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 usually put a poll at the end of this feature asking what the best Missed Fists moment of the week was and this time around I think we have two clear frontrunners. Up first, a savage show of strength leads to a submission in Shenzhen, China.

Daniel Swain vs. Xialong Wu

So this went downhill for Xialong Wu pretty quickly.

Daniel Swain, a 30-fight veteran who has found success in M-1 Global, just bum rushes Wu here, catching a kick like he’s in a kung fu movie and taking the fight to the mat in seconds. He then proceeds to go all-in on a guillotine choke and the results are immensely satisfying as Wu attempts to use the “kick off the fence” escape, except they’re fighting in a ring, and not in a cage.

The M-1 ring has fencing only between the two bottom ropes to prevent fighters from rolling out between them, so Wu is able to get some elevation at first, but there’s nowhere for his feet to go after that and he kind of ends up hanging himself. Unsurprisingly, he soon taps out.

That 35-second finish took place at M-1 Challenge 103 in Shenzhen, China, and a replay is available for free on the M-1 Global app or it can be purchased on FITE TV.

Jesse Strader vs. Isaiah Batin-Gonzalez
Reina Cordoba vs. Zoila Frausto

If Swain has the Submission of the Week award locked in, then the best KO sequence has to go to Jesse Strader for this stunning combination at Combate 41 in Fresno, Calif. (available for replay on DAZN).

Remember in The Fighter when Mark Wahlberg is trying to put the moves on Amy Adams by explaining his boxing strategy? Head, body, head. Well, Strader goes body, body, body, body, HEAD here and absolutely crushes Isaiah Batin-Gonzalez.

Extra style and sportsmanship points to Strader for recognizing that this one was over and not going in for the follow-up shots; then again, when you land a left hand that sends your opponent flying back about five feet, it’s probably an easy situation to assess.

Strader (5-1) has competed primarily at 145 pounds, but if this is an indication of how effective he can be at bantamweight, he may have just found a new home.

Also of note at Combate 41, the main event saw Reina Cordoba pull off a stunning upset against former Bellator champion Zoila Frausto. This bout was being billed as a test for Frausto, competing in MMA for the second time since February 2016, and it turned out to be a lot more than that.

That is a nasty-looking armbar variant that gets the tap-out just 2:32 into the opening round. Look at how straight Frausto’s arm is and Cordoba did this with her legs. Look ma, no hands!

This was no fluke. Cordoba has six career submission wins in 11 fights, four by armlock now. Props to her for playing the spoiler and making the most of an unexpected main event opportunity as she and Frausto had to step up to the plate when the originally scheduled headliner was bumped down the card after one of the participants was switched out.

Magalie Alvarez vs. Andy Nguyen

Let’s go from an arm that was nearly broken to an arm that was clearly broken at a Lion Fight 57 Muay Thai event in Las Vegas.

On any given kickboxing or MMA card, you’re probably going to see dozens of blocked kicks and while the impact alone is enough to make one wince, it usually turns out to be mostly harmless for the defending fighter.

That was not the case when Magalie Alvarez kicked Andy Nguyen (h/t Bloody Elbow):

You can see the strike catches Nguyen right on the elbow, her arm looking loose and out of position, and right away it’s clear that something ain’t right.

Nguyen, a veteran MMA fighter who has competed for Rizin and the former Legacy Fighting Championship, was quick to provide an update on her status, saying that she expects to need about six weeks to recover:

Knowing how tough Nguyen is, she’ll probably end up taking a bare-knuckle boxing bout in a Florida swamp somewhere by the end of September.

Shawn Ducre vs. Carlos Nanez

Ignore the silly music here and focus on what went down between Shawn Ducre and Carlos Nanez at Fury FC 34 in Lake Charles, La. (available for replay on FITE TV PPV).

Was this a cheap shot?

This author leans towards it not being a cheap shot if only because it doesn’t look like Ducre gives any clear indication that he’s down to touch gloves. It does look like he raises his arm, but that could easily be the start of the flying knee that he unloads on Nanez’s poor dome.

One might argue that unless it’s obvious the other guy is meeting you in the middle to throw down, throwing such a huge strike is unsporting, but… come on, this is Missed Fists, you know that reasoning isn’t going to fly here.

More importantly, after the last few weeks of fighters badly playing themselves, Ducre has come the closest to emulating the Jorge Masvidal-Ben Askren flying knee finish and he beat Masvidal’s time by one second to boot. A tip of the Missed Fists cap to Ducre, who is probably marked man from here on out.

Yuya Wakamatsu vs. Geje Eustaquio
Ayaka Miura vs. Samara Santos
Rodlek Jaotalaytong vs. Andrew Miller

You probably heard about Demetrious Johnson continuing his dominance and Eddie Alvarez’s bounce back performance at last Friday’s ONE Championship show in Manila (and if you didn’t, read about it here!), but you may have missed out on a trio of wicked finishes on the undercard.

Yuya Wakamatsu lights up former titleholder Geje Eustaquio with a straight right, confirming that the success he had against “Mighty Mouse” in his last fight was not an aberration. We’ve been high on Wakamatsu for a while now around these parts and if you’re still sleeping on him, you’re missing out on a 24-year-old who could be one of the next big stars in the lighter weight divisions.

In flyweight action, Ayaka Miura won her fifth straight fight with an awesome Americana on Samara Santos:

That’s some fantastic torque on that arm in addition to Miura bullying Santos with a headlock. If Jingnan Xiong is looking for her next title challenger at 125 pounds, it looks like Miura is it.

And what would ONE highlights be without some kickboxing action? Rodlek Jaotalaytong loaded up the right hand in round one of this Muay Thai bout with Andrew Miller…

… and then actually got the finish with it in round three!

Must have been storing up that pop for a while. Big style points here for Jaotalaytong.

ONE Championship: Dawn of Heroes is available for free replay on B/R Live or the ONE app, and on YouTube for viewers outside of the U.S.

Austin Lingo vs. Solo Hatley Jr.
Elijah Johns vs. Aaron Webb

Sticking with the mid-majors, we have Austin Lingo ending Solo Hatley Jr. in just 25 seconds at LFA 73.

If Lingo’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he had a 13-second KO last year. Oh, he also picked up a 25-second submission victory against Angel Luis Cruz in his last appearance. Now 7-0, Lingo seems like a prime candidate for the Contender Series, but really the UFC should just sign him outright given how badly he’s outclassed his last three opponents.

The man that Lingo took out in a baker’s dozen last year was Aaron Webb and it seems cruel to include Webb in this feature again for dubious reasons, but the man just cannot stop getting hit.

That’s Elijah Johns doing the deed. At least Webb lasted 26 seconds this time, twice as long as the Lingo fight, and in fairness to Webb, he’s actually coming off of a 24-second knockout win of his own that took place outside of the LFA. He ain’t paid by the hour, folks, or even by the minute based on what he’s shown so far.

Jacob Kilburn vs. Deivison Ribeiro

And to bring this all full circle, we’ll end with another on-the-button KO from Island Fights 58 in Pensacola, Fla. (available on UFC Fight Pass). Here’s Jacob “The Killer” Kilburn (meh) crushing Deivison Ribeiro with an overhand right that almost looks like it was sped up in post-production:

I don’t love the cartwheel next to the limp body, but winner winner, chicken dinner, I guess.

On that note, we leave you for this week, just remember that at Missed Fists headquarters we’re all about celebrating class, dignity, rule-following, proper hygiene, The Fast and the Furious, and whatever the F this is:

(h/t Middle Easy)

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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.