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.

No room for preamble this week, just a question: What are we doing???

(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.)

A combat sports event on a ring surrounded by water with plenty of electronics around? What could go wrong?

Everything, apparently?

At a Weed Boxing (???) event in Phuket, Thailand, former ONE FC fighter Ivan Parshikov (a respectable 3-2 in the ONE ring) celebrated a victory by climbing the corner post. Perfectly normal thing to do.

However, to steady himself, he grabbed on to a lighting fixture and was immediately zapped. Watch him go limp in the clip above and then plummet to the mat. Mega yikes!

Here’s another description of the incident (translation via Twitter):

It’s almost like regular boxing, but before the fight, you have to take a puff, and the ring is set up by a pool, so you can take a dip after the bout.

Look, I’m one of the first people that will tell you combat sports have become kind of stagnant and for the art form to move forward we need to try new things, but we can be smart about it, too! To what end, I ask you, Weed Boxing? To what end?

Beyond being shocked into unconsciousness for what looked to be a whole second, Parshikov also took a scary fall onto the apron. He is very, very, very lucky he didn’t injure his head or neck.

Here’s another angle.

Fortunately, Parshikov appears to be fine, as he later posted (translation via Instagram), “The idea of diving from the ring into the pool was not the most successful one.”

Truer words were never spoken, my friend.

In other news, apparently flying knees are now the order of the day.

Juan Archuleta vs. Dennis Linton

I doubt anyone missed former Bellator and RIZIN champion Juan Archuleta’s first win in his return to the regional scene, but in case you did…

Straight-up KO of the Year candidate right there and one of the cleanest flying knee finishes you will ever see.

LOOK AT IT.

Archuleta has been at this game a long time, and he adds another belt to his collection by winning the Borroka Promotions bantamweight title. At 37 with 37 pro bouts under his belt, he just picked up the best knockout of his career.

Adriano Castro vs. Jose Tavera Rocha

Adriano Castro’s finishing effort at 300 Sparta 40 in Lima, Peru, can’t quite match Archuleta’s, but it was definitely nasty.

That was more of an execution-style flying knee. Castro had Jose Tavera Rocha on the proverbial ropes and probably could have gone for a flurry of punches in the hopes that the referee stepped in. But nope, he sealed the deal and left no doubt that this fight was over.

Omar Arteaga vs. Pablo Sepulveda

I feel like Omar Arteaga reversed the process at Samurai Fight House 22 in Buenos Aires.

Rather than use his punches to set up a flying knee, he used the flying knee to set up a finishing sequence of punches. And you know what? End result was the same,

Daniel Kolasinski vs. Thomas Glot

From Ares FC 32 in Brest, France:

Did you blink? If you did, you probably missed Daniel Kolasinki’s one-shot KO of Thomas Glot. Run that one back.

Gorgeous counter punch. Hair flopping. All motor skills suddenly disappearing. This was essentially the classic samurai duel aftermath where the losing fighter doesn’t realize they’ve lost until they see the slash across their body.

Monique Dodson vs. Leilani Hodgens
David Puente vs. Ayden Bell
Victor Valenzuela vs. Bruce Whitehead

If you haven’t heard of Monique Dodson, you have now and you’ll definitely hear more soon.

The 28-year-old made her pro debut at Fury FC 105 and needed just 65 seconds to drop Leilani Hodgens. You don’t see a lot of one-punch KOs in the strawweight division, with only Jessica Andrade coming to mind. That’s a lofty comparison for Dodson, but if she keeps delivering the goods, you’ll see her get that Contender Series call in the next couple of years.

Amateur heavyweight David Puente looked like he was just firing blind here…

…and it worked!

The best punch is the one your opponent doesn’t see coming and it doesn’t get more deceptive than throwing a punch with no expectation of where it will land.

That probably applies to this wild exchange between Victor Valenzuela and Bruce Whitehead, too.

And look, another knee!

Fury FC 105 is available for replay on UFC Fight Pass, with the preliminary portion of the card on YouTube.

Shane Collins vs. Kody Vogels
Bia Mesquita vs. Sierra Dinwoodie

We’d be remiss if we didn’t shout out a couple of newly crowned champions, Shane Collins and Bia Mesquita.

Collins, 25, used some beautiful body work to put Kody Vogels away to improve to 4-0 and become the A1 Combat featherweight champion.

At LFA 211 in Salamanca, N.Y., Bia Mesquita claimed a bantamweight belt with a one-sided trucking of Sierra Dinwoodie.

At 34, Mesquita is a little further along than Collins, but considering her enormous success in the world of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, she’s likely much closer to a UFC contract. After all, Kayla Harrison needs challengers soon.

Poll
What was the most memorable Missed Fists moment this week?

  • 55%

    Ivan Parshikov’s shocking surprise

    (26 votes)

  • 31%

    Juan Archuleta’s flying knee

    (15 votes)

  • 8%

    Daniel Kolasinski’s one-punch KO

    (4 votes)

  • 4%

    Monique Dodson’s amazing debut

    (2 votes)

  • 0%

    Other (leave comment below)

    (0 votes)

47 votes total

Vote Now

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.