Missed Fists: Xavier Horton flattens opponent with unreal 2-second knockout punch

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.

One of the most difficult aspects of combat sports to swallow is how these incredible athletes can spend months upon months and days upon days and hours upon hours preparing for a fight, only for it to end in a flash once they step into the cage.

At an amateur show in Chattanooga, Tenn., this past weekend, Xavier Horton and Richard Guerrerro demonstrated that scenario to the extreme.

(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.)

Xavier Horton vs. Richard Guererro

Yup, you’re seeing that right. The official time of the stoppage of this amateur welterweight bout from Aries Fight Series 6 is TWO seconds into the opening round.

Maybe the timekeeper or whoever was responsible for the official decision was being a little generous to Horton there, because calling the fight over at two seconds means that it was decided that Guerrerro was out before he hit the floor. But since it’s likely that Guererro was out before he hit the floor, I say it’s fair game. With the benefit of replay, it definitely looks closer to a three- or four-second knockout (the time when Horton lands that follow-up ground strike).

Regardless, Horton has himself one for the history books. It shouldn’t be surprising that Horton caught himself a whopper as three of his past four fights have ended before the three-minute mark.

You can watch Aries Fighting Series events and more regional action with a subscription to Spectation Sports.

Adrian Bartosinski vs. Artur Szczepaniak
Werlleson Martins vs. Patryk Surdyn
Adrianna Kreft vs. Karolina Owczarz
Maria Silva vs. Sofiia Bagishvili

We go from the regional scene to one of Europe’s biggest promotions as we catch up with KSW 81, which took place in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland, last Saturday.

Roberto Soldic is set to make his second appearance for ONE Championship next week (which hopefully is more fun for him than his debut) and the KSW welterweight title he vacated was still up for grabs up until a few days ago. Suffice to say, Adrian Bartosinski seized upon the opportunity, improving to 14-0 and claiming the belt with a powerful first-round KO of Artur Szczepaniak.

Bartosinski has now finished his past 12 opponents, which should tell you that he’s more than equipped to not just follow in Soldic’s footsteps, but carve out his own highlight-filled legacy.

The best knockout of the night actually belonged to Werlleson Martins, who somehow avoided a disqualification with this knee knockout of a diving Patryk Surdyn.

That is just right on time.

Martins is 27 with a wealth of experience (he’s 18-5 after that win), so the time is now for him to make his mark in KSW. Following his win, he was immediately scheduled to fight bantamweight champion Jakub Wiklacz at the highly anticipated Colosseum event on June 3.

Flyweight Adrianna Kreft improved to 5-0 in her pro career with this tight arm-triangle submission that had a scary aftermath as opponent Karolina Owczarz tapped out, but still appeared to briefly lose consciousness.

Good job by the ref there to stay with Owczarz as she awkwardly came back to her senses.

Maria Silva on the other hand, she put Sofiia Bagishvili OUT out.

This could be the start of a great run in KSW for Silva after falling short of earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series. The 27-year-old Brazilian went 1-1 at the UFC APEX, with both of her bouts going to decision.

By the way, you may remember Bagishvili from her fight just a few months ago where she was on the other side of a submission outcome in which she had to point out to the referee that her opponent’s arm was injured.

KSW events are available for pay-per-view replay on KSWTV. Up next is a May 13 show followed by their second Colosseum event on June 3.

Jacob Romero vs. Jose Mercado
Danny Dixon vs. Douglas Alves
Shanelle Dyer vs. Kamila Simkova
Iain Postlethwaite vs. Christian Tebbett

Heading on over to UFC Fight Pass, we have highlights from Fury FC in Houston and Full Contact Contender in Liverpool, England (there’s a contrast in locations if I’ve ever seen one).

At Fury FC 78, Jacob Romero detonated Jose Mercado with a running punch knockout that was bolstered by some great commentary.

Note the time of the stoppage, 34 seconds into Round 1. Even outside of the UFC, Flyweight Unders rule!

Over at Full Contact Contender 33, we had another thrilling Gone In 60 Seconds fight as Danny Dixon and Douglas Alves threw all the way down.

Dixon didn’t let Alves make him a highlight, turning the tables quickly and laying into Alves with bombs to end the fight 28 seconds in.

Aggression was the name of the game at this show as 22-year-old flyweight prospect Shanelle Dyer put hands on Kamila Simkova for a standing TKO in the first round.

Look for Dyer to advance quickly through the ranks if she keeps putting on performances like this and the spinning-and-winning knockout she had in her debut just last month.

It’s time to move on to the submission portion of our show and hey, how convenient, Iain Postlethwaite starts us off with a beauty of a heel hook.

That kind of technique likely isn’t going to fly at the highest levels of MMA, but there’s something so cool about Postlethwaite catching a careless kick and moving directly into a successful submission attempt.

Yryskeldi Duysheev vs. Rafael Abrahamyan

Postlethwaite’s effort was topped by Yryskeldi Duysheev, who locked in a terrific twister on Rafael Abrahamyan at an MMA Series event in Russia.

You know you scored a slick sub when the Matt Hughes across-the-cage running slam isn’t the most memorable part of your reel.

Michel Silva vs. Aleksandr Vasiliev
Konstantin Simonov vs. Khikmatillo Abdullaev
Vladimir Seliverstov vs. Nikolay Kovalenko

Staying in Russia and dipping over to Yekaterinburg, we have Michel Silva working to steal the submission show with a buggy choke.

The slam didn’t work out so well for Aleksandr Vasiliev. Maybe he should have gone for the over-the-knee backbreaker instead.

Back to the KOs, we have Konstantin Simonov plastering Khikmatillo Abdullaev.

Abdullaev just stepped directly into the path of that right hand. There’s no coming back from that one.

Vladimir Seliverstov also caught a body with a hammer right, a shot that probably should have convinced the referee to wave the fight off as soon as it landed.

Sweet roll afterwards though.

Pavel Dailidko vs. Luka Podkrajsek
Erko Jun vs. Marko Drmonjic

Our MMA untrained media member Tip-of-the-Week goes out to Luka Podkrajsek, who was bludgeoned by Pavel Dailidko at Brave CF 70 in Slovenia.

My expert advice: Watch out for those knees, bro!

A man that needs no pointers, Erko Jun scored a perfect right hand counter to put Marko Drmonjic down for the count.

Erko, a former heavyweight now competing at 205 pounds, has continued to put in the work since starting his career with KSW and it’s great to see because if that improved technique is any indication, he’s truly evolving as a fighter/model (and not the other way around).

---

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.