Missed Fists: Dylan Sheppard lands cleanest spin kick knockout of the year, 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.

There’s something for everyone in this week’s Missed Fists grab bag, though you may want to check what you have in hand as you may find yourself watching a family friendly, highlight-reel knockout or an extremely not-safe-for-work injury.

Let’s get these different kinds of nastiness out of the way first.

(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.)

Dylan Sheppard vs. Dawson Sampson

I could not be happier starting us off in glamorous Moncton. You may remember New Brunswick’s “Hub City” as having hosted a UFC event in 2018 that actually turned out to be deeply significant in retrospect. Anthony Smith beat Volkan Oezdemir in the main event to earn a shot at Jon Jones, future contenders Sean Strickland and Calvin Kattar picked up big wins on the preliminaries and, most importantly, Artem Lobov fought his last MMA fight.

Well, you can add Dylan Sheppard to Moncton’s storied history now.

Sheppard scored one of the cleanest spin kick knockouts in recent memory, blasting Dawson Sampson right across the face in the first bout of Fight League Atlantic 3 this past Saturday. This was the amateur debut for both men and not one that either will likely ever forget.

Jahliel Palmer vs. Cole Farsaci
Ezequiel Ricci vs. Pablo Rios

(Warning: The following clips contain graphic imagery of gruesome injuries)

First, let me say that I’m only including these because of the constant prodding of actual devil Kristen King, who almost certainly enjoys writing about injuries more than should legally be permitted.

It’s also our duty here at Missed Fists to chronicle the good, the bad, and the weird, so if by some chance you were smart like me and did everything in your power to avoid watching these breaks, then just know that this is strictly business.

First, here’s Jahliel Palmer just destroying Cole Farsaci’s arm with a kimura at Cage Wars 52 (free replay available here) in Schenectady, N.Y.

This was Farsaci’s first amateur fight and while I respect that he’s made of sterner stuff than I’ll ever know, please, for the love of all that’s holy, just tap.

Pablo Rios wasn’t even fortunate enough to have that option.

Nothing to see here, right? Just two fighters trading leg kicks. Then, just 17 seconds into the fight, the worst happens and suddenly we’re getting a close-up, lingering shot of Rios’ completely broken leg.

That’s it. I’m out. No more MMA for this guy. I leave this awfulness in your hands.

Randall Ray vs. Richie Fa’aoso

Let me just kick back for a second with the soothing sights and sounds of wholesome Australian backyard bare-knucklin’. Thanks to Randall Ray for sending in this clip, which features a nice finish and some lovely sportsmanship after.

You may remember Ray scoring a nasty calk kick finish last year when that technique was all the craze, which led to him sharing a story about his difficult upbringing.

Dong Jo Joo vs. Min Je Park
Jin Young Lee vs. Gyu Tae Seo

That was fun, but I’m still struggling to shake off that injury imagery. Perhaps a couple of quick KOs from South Korea’s Angel’s Fighting Championship will do the trick.

That’s the stuff.

The first one-shot finish featured there is courtesy of Dong Jo Joo, who squared Min Je Park up and leveled him with a punch on the button for a 20-second knockout.

Just one fight later, Jin Young Lee topped that by needing just 15 seconds to land a one-shot head kick knockout on Gyu Tae Seo.

You can watch the full Angel’s Fighting Championship 19 for free on YouTube.

Luana Santos vs. Beatriz Ferreira
Claudio Quintana vs. Ivan Castillo

OK. My stomach is settled. We can go back to appreciating the joo-jeet-zoo. And there was a lot of it to enjoy.

From Standout Fighting Tournament 34 (free replay available on YouTube) in Sao Paulo, Brazil, here’s 22-year-old bantamweight Luana Santos improving to 3-0 with the second leg Americana of her pro career.

You know, I’m something of an MMA expert myself, so here’s some free advice for Santos’ next opponent: Watch out for that leg Americana.

At a Combate Global event in Miami, we had one of the cooler stories of the weekend as Claudio Quintana stepped in to a headlining opportunity on less than a week’s notice for teammate Enrique Gonzalez and proceeded to beat Ivan Castillo with a gorgeous armbar.

That’s six straight wins now for the Chilean lightweight, who hadn’t fought in over two years. You can read more about the circumstances surrounding Quintana’s last-minute appearance here.

Pablo Sabori vs. Angel Rodriguez
Luis Meraz vs. Jesus Ramos
Aaron Canarte vs. Walter Reyes

Two title fights headlined Ultimate Warrior Challenge 33 (also available on UFC Fight Pass) in Tijuana, Mexico, and both ended in spectacular fashion.

In the main event, Pablo Sabori used a knee right up the middle to stop a charging Angel Rodriguez and capture a vacant lightweight belt.

Sabori had a tough act to follow as the co-main event saw Luis Meraz win a vacant featherweight title with a picture-perfect Von Flue choke. And as regular readers know, we are legally obligated to feature Von Flues whenever and wherever they occur.

We are also obligated to feature any knockout that involves approximately a dozen punches landing on the button, as was the case with Aaron Canarte.

Fedor Babich vs. Rafik Hakobyan

Our Did I Do Thaaat? Accidental Knockout of The Week comes from a Black Sea Fighter event (free replay available on YouTube) in Sochi, Russia.

I honestly do not know if Fedor Babich meant to throw a perfectly timed knee here, but he somehow landed a perfectly timed knee right to the head instead of the body and also avoided getting disqualified.

Yushi vs. Tony Tony Zenki
Kleber Koike vs. Kyohei Hagiwara

Unless you’re a JMMA fanatic, you might not realize that RIZIN occasionally holds their own versions of Fight Night events, such as Thursday’s RIZIN LANDMARK show. We got some delightful clips from this one too as Yushi displayed the beauty of swangin’ and bangin’ and Kleber Koike may have choked his way to a title shot.

That’s just incredible camera work there. Head down, throwing bolos, Yushi putting in work.

In the main event, Koike picked up his sixth straight win, all by submission, and improved to 5-0 in the RIZIN ring with a rear-naked choke finish of an overmatched Kyohei Hagiwara.

That took Koike just 97 seconds and that performance only cemented his case for a featherweight title shot at Juntaro Ushiku. Koike told MMA Fighting this past February that he expects Mikuru Asakura (a guy Koike submitted at RIZIN 28) to get the opportunity over him, but it will be hard to deny Koike now.

Teruto Ishihara vs. Jose Hernandez

No, that is not a typo. Teruto Ishihara is being featured in Missed Fists and he’s back in the win column.

“Yashabo” ended up headlining Urijah Faber’s inaugural A1 Combat show (available on UFC Fight Pass) after an originally scheduled flyweight title fight between Jesse Tafoya and Jack Duffy was postponed due to the fighters getting involved in a backstage brawl.

Ishihara did not disappoint, taking Jose Hernandez out with a furious knockout flurry in the second round.

This is Ishihara’s first win since a unanimous decision nod over Rolando Dy at a UFC event in August 2017 and it snapped a six-fight winless streak. Let the good times roll again for Ishihara, even if his post-fight plans hit a slight snag.

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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.