Missed Fists: Dominique Simon escapes choke with vicious drop-back slam knockout

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.

Last week, we featured some amazing submissions that seemingly materialized out of thin air, though the truth is that these are the kinds of things that only happen regularly in the dark corners of the combat sports world. That theme continues this week because as you know, one of the things we love most about low-level MMA is low-level submission defense.

Though in this first instance, that kind of defense proves to be just right.

(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.)

Dominique Simon vs. Luke Brinkworth

We’re told time and time again what a fundamentally poor idea it is to attempt to slam your way out of submissions. In most instances, you’re only going to sink yourself in deeper, assuming your opponent knows what they’re doing.

Amateur featherweight Dominique Simon said you can take your conventional fighting wisdom and shove it.

Credit his opponent Luke Brinkworth for clinging on there even as Simon set him up for what would turn out to be a willing slam. Really though, how could he have seen this coming? That’s essentially an incidental headbutt knockout.

Here’s another look at it, courtesy of RIZIN and UFC vet Damien Brown.

I mean, that is OUT out.

If you want to see more from Xtreme Fighting Champions 58, you can catch a pay-per-view replay here.

Giorgi Kotorashvili vs. Puriya Nemati
Mariam Torchinava vs. Arab Mozghan
Shermurat Kalilov vs. Khvicha Koridze

Zipping over to Batumi, Georgia, we have more questionable defense and decision making, starting with Giorgi Kotorashvili catching a kimura from a rare angle.

Poor Puriya Nemati, the commentary was just merciless. Look how badly that arm is getting bent! Let’s see any of you remember your step-by-step jiu-jitsu lessons in that situation.

The same could be said for Arab Mozghan, who didn’t offer much resistance when Mariam Torchinava peeled her off the fence and put on a - to put it nicely - deliberately paced standing rear-naked choke.

This was Mozghan’s first pro fight, so it can only go up from here.

Speaking of going up, Khvicha Koridze will think twice about how he rises from the canvas in future fights.

You’ve got to know that the referee isn’t actually separating you, my guy. Get those hands up!

Excellent work by Shermurat Kalilov though to pounce on the opportunity and claim a flyweight title.

You can catch a free replay of Georgian Fighting Championship 17 on their YouTube.

Gabriella Ribeiro vs. Nina da Silva
Carlos Prates vs. Charles de Oliveira
Talisson Teixeira vs. Fernando Kato
Marcio Andrade vs. Luis Nogueira

From Standout Fighting Tournament 37 in Sao Paulo, we have Gabriella Ribeiro scoring a truly life-changing knockout in a kickboxing bout (with MMA gloves).

Seriously, that’s the kind of thumping that rearranges your priorities and has you questioning every decision you’ve made up to that point. Straight nastiness.

In the main event, Carlos Prates won a vacant welterweight title with the best jab I’ve seen since Georges St-Pierre invented MMA jabbing at UFC 124.

Speaking of great one-shot knockouts, here’s Talisson Teixeira biding his time until he landed the perfect counter punch and picked up a win in just 24 seconds.

And we can’t leave Brazil without talking about Marcio Andrade’s excellent finish of Bellator vet Luis Nogueira and the even better post-fight antics.

That’s one of those celebrations where all of us at home are going, “I could do that… if I wanted to.”

Ivana Petrovic vs. Alexandra Tekenah
Slim Trabelsi vs. Azamat Nuftillaev

The UFC made its debut in France this past weekend, but let’s not forget that Fernand Lopez’s Ares FC promotion has been holding it down for a minute now.

At Ares FC 8 in Paris (available for replay on UFC Fight Pass), they crowned two new champions as Ivana Petrovic won a vacant flyweight belt with a submission of Alexandra Tekenah, and Slim Trabelsi put away an exhausted Azamat Nuftillaev to claim a vacant heavyweight title.

French MMA is en feu!

Abraham Nava vs. Guillermo Torres
Luis Guerrero vs. Fredy Villegas

At Lux Fight League 26 in Mexico City, Abraham Nava is our runner-up for most brutal knockout of the week as he caught a kick and absolutely HAMMERED opponent Guillermo Torres while he was still on one leg.

In the co-main event, Luis Guerrero gives us our Humpty Dumpty Fall of the Week as he ran through Fredy Villegas for a knockout with seconds remaining in Round 1.

Kenan Bayramov vs. Dmitry Yambikov

And we can’t depart without mentioning Kenan Bayramov’s spectacular falling wheel kick from Rage Arena 4.

That strike didn’t quite put away Dmitry Yambikov, but it was the beginning of the end, and the flurry that actually ended the fight was just as fun.

ICYMI, make sure to check out Guilherme Cruz’s follow-up with Zuluzinho on the knockout loss he suffered this past weekend in Russia after being the victim of an unconventional standup rule. Because there’s always room for another bizarre Zuluzinho episode.

Until next time, remember: The primary goal of martial arts is to teach self defense.

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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.