Missed Fists: Referee nails flying tackle to save fallen fighter

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.

We had a great moment in refereeing at UFC 316 when former fighter Vitor Ribeiro did something MMA referees rarely do: take a point. Maybe “Shaolin” drew inspiration from his own battles, but when he saw Julianna Peña blatantly upkick Kayla Harrison not once, but twice, while both women were in a grounded position, he immediately intervened and penalized Peña.

Those kicks clearly stung Harrison, so taking a point was 100 percent the right thing to do, and the only controversy afterward was why referees aren’t willing to intervene like that more often.

Anyway, I bring that incident up because we had another sterling display of officiating at a recent EFC Worldwide event in Sandton, South Africa.

(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.)

Sisa Jungula vs. Teboho Ntene

Firstly, fine finish by Sisa Jungula and I’m not even mad at him for going for a follow-up blow because he was caught in the moment and just moving on instinct. All good. Plus, referee Pietie Coxen was quite a ways away so the stoppage didn’t occur immediately.

But Coxen covered that ground quick.

Once he realized Teboho Ntene wasn’t getting up, Coxen sprinted at Jungula and straight tackled him to the mat. I love this so much. At a glance, the reaction may have seemed excessive, but Coxen actually brought him down pretty safely while making sure there would be no further physicality between fighters.

Plus, he got some sweet air.

Kestin McClain vs. Ruben Vargas Jr.

Then again, it’s always nice when the fighters can pull back themselves.

At a Future of Fighting event in Louisville, Ky., Kestin McClain showed off some great hands and even better restraint.

That was McClain’s pro debut, but he showed veteran maturity there.

Mohammad Fakhreddine vs. Erko Jun
Borislav Nikolic vs. Nicholas Hwende

At Brave CF 96 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, a pair of titles changed hands in dramatic fashion. Erko Jun and Nicholas Hwende were both seeking the first defenses of recently won belts, but The MMA Gods did not favor them on this day.

Mohammad Fakhreddine got right up in Jun’s face and started swangin’ and bangin’ until Jun face-planted.

That KO made Fakhreddine the new Brave middleweight champion.

In the bantamweight championship co-main event, Hwende and Borislav Nikolic went to the fourth round before Nikolic managed to snag a guillotine choke that he held on to for dear life.

Took Hwende’s neck and his belt.

Alexis Fontes vs. Dawid Panfil

Speaking of chokes, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen this before.

From Hexagone MMA 30 in Reims, France, check out this rare finish (embed not working, unfortunately. Thanks, Elon!) by Alexis Fontes.

The great caposa described it as a “baseball choke,” which makes as sense to me as any other name. I’m not sure how Alexis Fontes even thinks to go for a choke like that, but there’s no denying the results.

Jordan Rutherford vs. Mehdi Korai
Josh Carrick vs. Iury Silva
Marlon Jones vs. Omid Ibrahimi
Summer Onley vs. Ana Carolina Araujo

Let’s zip on over to UFC Fight Pass for Full Contact Contender 42 from Liverpool, England, where we saw a fine show of sportsmanship (or at least that’s what I think happened).

Jordan Rutherford disintegrated Mehdi Korai’s chin, then kind of eased him down to the mat, like, “I got you, brother.”

More likely he saw an opportunity to take Korai down or take his back, but it did end up looking like a gentle finish relative to the preceding punch.

Josh Carrick showed off his punching power against Iury Silva and then got to show his Taylor Swift fandom.

A couple of undefeated bantamweight prospects also showed out at FCC 42, with Marlon Jones scoring a highlight-reel KO after just scrapping with Omid Ibrahimi, and Summer Onley utilizing relentless ground-and-pound to get the finish.

Beau Samaniego vs. Antonio Castillo Jr.

We already had two fantastic chokes this week, so let’s make it three with Beau Samaniego’s beautiful rolling guillotine from Cage Fury FC 143.

Nikolay Grozdev vs. Ignacio Campos

A new Way of Warrior FC champion was crowned in Madrid, Spain as Nikolay Grozdev executed this winning combo to floor Ignacio Campos.

Jesse King vs. Brian Muller

And then there’s Jesse King, who I’m pretty sure didn’t blink a single time before going full Vitor on Brian Muller.

Legend has it his eyes still haven’t closed.

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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