Missed Fists: Stefanos Stamatiou spinning backfist knockout absolutely freezes opponent

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.

With 2024 winding down, the race for year-end awards is heating up and while our MMA Fighting lists are as UFC-centric as you’d expect, many of the most brutal finishes have taken place in smaller promotions.

That was certainly the case this past week as we had a sextet of KOs that even the stars of this Saturday’s UFC 310 event will have a hard time topping.

(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.)

Stefanos Stamatiou vs. Raphael Kapnisis

Kickboxing in a cage? Always a good time and often a recipe for some wild stuff to happen. Just ask Stefanos Stamatiou, who took advantage of the unique angles of the fenced arena to deliver this absurd spinning backfist knockout.

Missed head kick to backfist is such a delightful combo every time you see it. Sure, it has a success rate of about five percent, and if you do that in an MMA fight, you’re likely getting planted on your butt with a counter punch or a takedown, but in cage kickboxing, spam that sequence out until you snag the big money and the fabulous prizes.

Stamatiou caught Raphael Kapnisis so clean that poor Kapnisis momentarily froze in time, reminiscent of a remnant of Pompei. Or something like that. He got hit good, is what I’m saying.

This finish came from a Cyprus Fighting Championship promoted in association with Brave CF and is free to watch on YouTube.

Ngoc Luong Tran vs. Wubukasimu Kuerban

Our second big whopper of the week comes from a Wu Lin Feng event in Guangdong, China.

The super slo-mo replay is necessary for this one, with Tran’s left hand coming in at lightning speed. Opponent Wubukasimu Kuerban stepped directly into the path of that heat-seeking missile and arguably had a worse fall than Kapnisis.

First, his leg did the Cro Cop, bending underneath him before straightening out. And then he ended up spread eagle and defenseless against the follow-up hammerfist. This was a mismatch on paper, with Tran entering at 6-1 and Kuerban sporting a less-than-glamorous 9-9 record. So fans got exactly what they wanted, at least.

Artiom Cula vs. Michael Irizarry
Arsen Badalyan vs. Joshua Telles

To Tuff-N-Uff we go, with the venerable promotion having just held an event Wednesday in Las Vegas.

Artiom Cula added to the pile of crash test dummies this week, throwing an almost casual head kick that just so happened to detonate against the jaw of Michael Irizarry.

Irizarry had those hands low and loose and he paid for it, big time.

In an amateur bout, featherweight Arsen Badalyan sent Joshua Telles’ mouthpiece flying with this KO shot, though it shouldn’t be that surprising since Telles kept playing with it like Steph Curry at the free throw line.

Keep that thing in your mouth, man!

UFC CEO Dana White was in the building for this one, so you can bet he made sure to get Cula and Badalyan’s digits.

Tuff-N-Uff 140 is available to watch on UFC Fight Pass.

Robin Frank vs. Diego Santos

My goodness, the snapping sound on this one.

From The Cage MMA 6 in Balingen, Germany (event available for free on YouTube), Robin Frank uncorked a hellacious head kick that snipped Diego Santos’ puppet strings. This one had a sweet build-up to it, with Frank hurting Santos with a kick to the body first. When Frank primed those hips again, you can see Santos bring his hands down in defense, leaving his chin wide open.

Joao Lucas Barbosa vs. Jackson Souza

Seriously, no bells and whistles this week, just six of the best knockouts you’ll see all year.

Our final clip comes from a Dominium Fighter Championship event in Sao Paulo which saw amateur debutant Joao Lucas Barbosa throwing hands like a prime Deontay Wilder.

Barbosa could not have landed that punch cleaner and unlike some of our other winners this week, he nailed the walk-off. That’s how it’s done.

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.

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