Missed Fists: Brutal soccer kicks and stomps rule the day at Wotore moat fights

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.

Ladies and gentleman, the long, international nightmare is over: Wotore is back.

That’s right, the finest in moat fighting returned last week with its first event in 14 months and folks, it was more brutal than ever. Let’s go to the tape.

(Big thanks as always to @Barrelelapierna for their weekly lists of the best KOs and submissions, and to @Grabaka_Hitman for uploading many of the clips you see here. Give them a follow and chip in on Patreon if you can.)

Jakub Ozga vs. Marcin Szoltysik
Dominik Owsiany vs. Arkadiusz Jedraczka

Alright, I’m just going to say it. That might be the best/worst soccer kick I’ve ever seen in years.

Watch that again.

It looked like Marcin Szoltysik was protesting something before eating a foot right to the mush. That kick landed square on the top of his face and head, full force. No mercy from Jakub Ozga, who sized Szoltysik up before splitting the uprights. Nasty stuff.

And it wasn’t just Ozga bringing back the spirit of PRIDE. Dominik Owsiany stomped out Arkadiusz Jedraczka like he was trying to get mud off of a boot.

Now is as good a time as any to remind everyone that combat sports are somehow legal and this is something humans choose to do. That’s actually something to keep in mind for the rest of this week’s feature as there are some truly heinous finishes on the way.

A preview and a free fight (plus a commentary appearance from Karolina Kowalkiewicz!) is available on Wotore’s YouTube channel and if that whets your appetite, you can catch a replay of the show on Wotore TV for a little under $10 USD. Seriously, what do you have to lose (besides your soul)?

Toshiomi Kazama vs. Shunsuke Miyabi
Toshiomi Kazama vs. Naoki Ueda

We go from the Poland’s PRIDE homage to the country where the legendary promotion itself originated from for the Shintaro Ishiwatari Farewell Performance show (replay available via PPV) in Tokyo.

Ishiwatari, 36, has fought for pretty much every Japanese promotion under the sun (unfortunately, PRIDE was just about done by the time Ishiwatari debuted) so it’s only fitting that fighters pay homage to the former bantamweight King of Pancrase. Neck injuries have forced Ishiwatari to retire, but make no mistake, he’s been competing against the best even as his career wound down. His last four fights were against Naoki Inoue, Hiromasa Ougikubo, Ulka Sasaki, and Kyoji Horigichi.

Though Ishiwatari wasn’t known much for his submission skills, I’m sure he’d appreciate 24-year-old bantamweight Toshiomi Kazama paying homage to him in his own way with a pair of gorgeous tap-outs.

Shunsuke Miyabi got got first, having his arm annihilated by a wicked hammerlock. Later in the evening, Kazama turned an armbar into a triangle to sleep Naoki Ueda.

The future of JMMA is in good hands.

Masashi Kimura vs. Ryo Araki

Speaking of good JMMA hands, from a GLADIATOR show in Osaka, here’s Masashi Kimura and Ryo Araki with our “Condit-Hardy-sometimes-you’re-the-hammer-sometimes-you’re-the-nail-KO-punch-exchange-of-the-week,” more popularly known as the CHSYTHSYTNKOPEOTW award (catchy, right?):

That finish came 0:15 into the fight, so it probably took you longer to read that award name than it did for Kimura to put Araki away.

Ty Wildmo vs. Austin Striggle
Steven Cornett vs. Jon Uitvlugt

At a B2 Fighting Series amateur event this past Saturday, Ty Wildmo picked up a KO in almost half the time that it took Kimura as he landed the perfect head kick on Austin Striggle eight seconds into their fight.

By the way, Ty Wildmo is an amazing name and his nickname “The Heathen Hangman” is even better.

Also going down at the show Fort Wayne, Ind., was our Humpty Dumpty Fall of the Week, courtesy of Steven Cornett blasting Jon Uitvlugt.

Humpty Dumpty falls typically happen when someone is either trapped against the fence or blindly rushing in and in this case it was the latter. Cornett calmly assessed the situation before unleashing a short left hand that caused Jon Uitvlugt to face plant.

Wojciech Kawa vs. Kamil Mosgalik

Remember when I warned you about the gruesome finishes this week? This next one might be worse than the Wotore clips.

From a Fight Exclusive Night event in Ostrow Wielkopolski, Poland, Wojciech Kawa wasn’t satisfied kneeing Kamil Mosgalik’s guts, he had to throw in some tenderizing punches for good measure.

We see mouthpieces fall out all the time in combat sports, but rarely because of a fighter screaming in agony. This will haunt me.

Corey Hackett vs. Chris Taylor

This amateur heavyweight KO by Corey Hackett from Cage Wars 50 (free replay available here) in Schenectady, New York was too strange to leave out.

You know how pro wrestlers will sometimes resort to smacking their forearms against the other person’s chest instead of throwing a proper punch and we all just roll our eyes because it’s like, “Come on, that wouldn’t really hurt someone.”

Yeah.

Lucas Rocha vs. Adriano Ramos

When we do our year-end awards, we usually divide head kick KOs and knee KOs into separate categories, so I don’t know what we’re going to do with Lucas Rocha’s double dip from the Big Shot MMA 1 event (available for replay on YouTube).

Two great tastes that taste great together!

Sedriques Dumas vs. DeWitt Dixon

Sedriques Dumas’ 59-second KO from iKON FC 1 last Friday though? Pretty easy to classify.

That’s a great head kick, a great call from Pearl Gonzalez, and definitely some great dancing.

That event is available for replay on UFC Fight Pass and while you’re hanging around there, why not check out LFA 122?

Dan Moriarty vs. Jett Shell
Charles Johnson vs. Carlos Mota

Dan Moriarty authored a beautiful heel hook to force the tap from Jett Shell and improve to 2-0 as a pro with two finishes.

But what really had folks buzzing was the flyweight title main event between champion Charles Johnson and undefeated Brazilian Carlos Mota. The two went back and forth for four wild rounds before Johnson poured it on to find the finish early in the fifth.

Hardcores are already calling this an early candidate for Fight of the Year, so if this weekend’s Eagle FC and Bellator cards don’t tickle your fancy, you can always treat yourself to an LFA replay.

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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.