Missed Fists: Toe to eye leads to freak fight finish

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.

If you tuned in to UFC 314 this past Saturday, you were treated to a solid card top to bottom that was only slightly marred by a trio of questionable stoppages. Michal Oleksiejczuk scored a knockout of Sedriques Dumas when it looked like Dumas still had some fight in him, Michael Beltran was criminally late halting a beatdown of Darren Elkins, and Dan Ige added a knockout victory to his collection with a hurt, but lively Sean Woodson fighting for a takedown.

Somehow, despite all that, the most disappointing finish might have actually occurred a day prior (no pun intended) at LFA 206 in Prior Lake, Minn.

(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.)

Joey Hart vs. Omoyele Gonzalez
Alvin Hines vs. Billy Ray Valdez
Martin Camilo vs. Perry Stargel
Taner Trembley vs. Kyle Zimick
Santos Verdinez vs. Timothy Bender

This one is genuinely nobody’s fault as Joey Hart simply threw a kick from an odd angle that resulted in his toe landing in the worst possible place.

As you can see, Omoyele Gonzalez was clearly struck in the eye, but there’s not a lot you can do when an accidental poke happens like that. Referee Rob Madrigal could have paused the action, but it was unclear what happened at the time and there was only about a minute left in the round, so they just let it ride. Unfortunately for Gonzalez, his eye swelled up something fierce from the toe jab, and he couldn’t come out for Round 3.

So, TKO win for Hart.

It wasn’t a total travesty given that Hart nearly finished Gonzalez at the end of Round 1 anyway with a nasty ground-and-pound flurry. But like Woodson, who was down on the cards to Ige heading into the third, it sucks to be “knocked out” like that and lose any chance of a comeback.

Just one more way to lose a fight in this crazy game.

Palette cleanser: Heavyweight head kick.

Ah, I feel so much better. Thank you, Alvin Hines.

LFA 206 was truly a smorgasbord of delights, with none of the event’s 12 fights going to the scorecards (12 KOs/TKOs, two submissions). You can see them all for yourself on UFC Fight Pass, but here are three more winners that made a strong impression.

Martin Camilo put it on Perry Stargel and we actually got an excellent referee stoppage here.

Stargel’s face and body language both seemed to say, “Take it easy, man, what are you trying to do? Beat me up???”

Kyle Zimick had no visible reaction to the walloping he took from Taner Trembley as it seemed like his body just didn’t want to go down even after clean punch after clean punch landed.

By the time Zimick’s brain realized it was in danger, Trembley found the off switch.

One more bit of stoppage talk before we move on.

I don’t think anyone would have blamed referee Nick Berens if he had stopped in after Santos Verdinez went down in the opening minute of Round 1 with Timothy Bender sending him face-first into the mat. However, Berens managed to pull himself back, giving Verdinez room to recover (this was also due to Bender backing off, assuming Verdinez was done) and then come back for a knockout of his own.

If you’re craving more of that sort of thing, LFA 207 goes down tonight at 9 p.m. ET tonight in Sioux Falls, S.D., on UFC Fight Pass.

Mehdad Kavand vs. Marco Biswana

Bender’s walk-off attempt went poorly, but the same can’t be said for Mehdad Kavand.

Kavand raised his arms and tried to signal the end of the fight himself, but was denied. It turns out he was just doing opponent Marco Biswana a favor because there would be no comeback on this occasion. Just a few more right hands and a knee to the chin that finally let Kavand have his stylish moment.

You can catch a free replay of Levels Fight League 17 on YouTube.

Tiriel Abramovic vs. Wojciech Kacprzyk
Miran Fabjan vs. Michal Kita

At a Fight Night Championship event in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Tiriel Abramovic took a perfect moment of hesitation before uncorking a one-punch knockout.

I love that this came in the middle of a chaotic flurry. Abramovic took a moment to breathe, compose himself, and then deliver the crushing blow.

It could be happy trails soon for heavyweight veteran Michal Kita, now 44 years old with a pro record that dates back to 2006. Miran Fabjan paid him the ultimate respect by letting him go out on his shield.

That big uppercut at the beginning of the clip was the beginning of the end. It was auto-pilot from there for Kita and once he ended up on his back, he wasn’t getting back up.

Sen vs. Mr. Satan

From a DEEP event in Tokyo:

You know, I always say there’s nothing like a good ol’ fashioned right hand-soccer kick to the face combo and that was certainly the case here. I don’t actually say it, but after watching that finish, I might start.

Joan Arastey vs. Lucas Rodrigues

Joan Arastey’s knockout win from Ansgar Fighting League in Valencia, Spain, reminds me of that Slo-Mo drug from that kickass Dredd movie.

He had Lucas Rodrigues knocked stiff on his feet and the editing in this clip really emphasizes how, for Rodrigues, it must have felt like he was falling forever.

Zack Golden vs. Steven Campbell
Lewis Wood vs. Sam Howard

We close out with a couple of slick kick knockouts, courtesy of Zack Golden and Lewis Wood.

Golden showed beautiful patience in his bout at American Kombat Alliance 45, pursuing Steven Campbell without overextending and waiting for the right moment to let a head kick fly.

You can see Campbell repeatedly make the mistake of flinching back instead of countering or using footwork to make himself a harder target to hit. It was only a matter of time before Golden caught him.

In amateur action at Almighty Fighting Championship 40, Lewis Wood let loose with a gorgeous spin kick and was rewarded handsomely for his temerity.

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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 X — @AlexanderKLee — using the hashtag #MissedFists.