Missed Fists: Mateusz Gamrot puts tight choke on Polish host, Maria Henderson wins pro debut with smooth submission

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.

It’s always great when fighters get opportunities to hit the talk show circuit and show off their personality. Who could forget UFC champions Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes having a victory lap with Kelly Ripa? Or Nate Diaz rubbing shoulders on the red carpet with Mario Lopez? You can’t spell mainstream without MMA, after all.

This week, Mateusz Gamrot had the chance to get some TV time and he made the most of it, while also leaving quite the impression on the show’s host.

(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.)

Coming off of the biggest win of his UFC career, a controversial decision nod over Arman Tsarukyan, Gamrot joined Maciej Turski on Hejt Park to dish and discuss and even demonstrate a submission or two.

As you can see from the clip above, Gamrot may have gotten slightly carried away. They actually demonstrated the move multiple times though, so Turski can’t have been too put off by nearly being put to sleep, and afterwards it was all smiles.

Still, if a top 10 UFC fighter offers to help you experience a choke firsthand, feel free to say “no.” That’s just my advice.

You can see Gamrot’s full two-hour appearance (!) on the show (which is entirely in Polish, duh) here:

Maria Henderson vs. Melanie McIntyre
Allan Begosso vs. Paris Stanford

Maria Henderson, the wife of Bellator fighter and former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson, has been doing damage as an amateur but she made her pro debut last Friday at LFA 135 (replay available on UFC Fight Pass) in Phoenix and it couldn’t have gone much better.

In a little under two minutes, Henderson caught opponent Melanie McIntyre with a beautiful keylock after securing a triangle. This is Henderson’s third straight submission win after scoring tap-outs in her last two amateur fights. Maria has long been a staple of Benson’s fight team, so he had to be beaming after this one.

This week’s winner of the “I Want You To Want Me, I Kneed You to Kneed Me” awards goes to Allan Begosso and he should be super proud because there were plenty of good options.

That’s a 45-second finish for Begosso, a 26-year-old fighter bantamweight out of Brazil who is currently training at Team Alpha Male. He’s now 7-1 with six finishes.

And in case you missed An Ho’s absurd head kick knockout, you should definitely check that video out here.

Lloyd McKinney vs. Santo Curatolo
Charlie Radtke vs. Caleb Crump

Also on UFC Fight Pass, CFFC 110 took place this past weekend in Tampa, Fla.

Lloyd McKinney closed the show with a devastating knee knockout of Santo Curatolo to win an interim lightweight title, taking advantage of an aggressive Curatolo to land the finishing blow.

Congrats to McKinney and better luck next time to Curatolo, one of the hardest hitting flyweights out there. He won the CFFC lightweight title in the past with an incredible knockout of his own, but he was the nail on this night.

Charlie Radtke gave us our Humpty Dumpty Fall of the Week, leaving Caleb Crump an absolute mess on the mat after landing what looked like a simple counter, but turned out to be a one-hitter quitter.

Juri Ohara vs. Yuma Ishizuka

Over in Tokyo, Juri Ohara defended a DEEP lightweight belt with a truly heinous soccer kick knockout of Yuma Ishizuka.

That’s eight straight now for Ohara, who at 31 years old with 52 pro bouts under his belt, might just be hitting his stride.

Carlos Puente Jr. vs. Roger Blanque
Ricardo Ramirez vs. Jose Mercado

On the flipside, at Combate Global in Miami, we have Carlos Puente Jr. who entered his bout with Roger Blanque on a six-fight losing streak. He put a stop to that with this tight arm-triangle choke.

That’s a lot of squeeze there and it almost looks like he finished it from back control, which is unusual. Regardless, Puente’s pro record is now back up to .500 (7-7) after that skid-snapper.

Earlier on the card, we have the kind of finish that typically only happens between inexperienced fighters, but I’m still tipping my cap to Ricardo Ramirez for this upkick KO.

Ramirez caught him with that kick at the exact moment it became legal. Watch Jose Mercado’s reaction, it’s like he got smacked with a right hand haymaker. Upkicks don’t come much cleaner than that.

Nico Jefferson vs. Kurstan Davenport

At True Revelation 47 (shows available on Spectation Sports pay-per-view) in Burlington, Iowa, Nico Jefferson and Kurstan Davenport met in a matchup of fighters with a combined 3-13 record, so you knew someone was probably going to get hurt.

Case in point:

That right hand already put Davenport out, the follow-up left was right on the money, and then the canvas did the rest. Ugly stuff.

Kevin Borjas vs. Joseph Vieira

At Inka FC 34 in Lima, Peru, Kevin Borjas landed a sweet three-punch body shot combo to put away Joseph Vieira.

I’m especially inclined to highlight this finish as we just recently recorded a podcast celebrating the career of the recently retired Donald Cerrone, a man responsible for arguably the greatest finishing combination of all time. Check out that episode of DAMN! They Were Good featuring yours truly and let us know where Cerrone’s knockout of Rick Story ranks among the best of the best.

That’s all for this week, friends. Until next time, remember, everybody makes mistakes.

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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 – @AlexanderKLee – using the hashtag #MissedFists.