Missed Fists: Amateur fighter completely whiffs on spinning strikes before being brutally knocked out

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.

Thank you as always to the great Jed Meshew for dishing out the Missed Fists goodness last week in my absence. I’m back from vacation and while I can’t match my colleague’s acerbic wit, I can tilt the spotlight towards a few fighters deserving of recognition—and, yes, a little friendly trolling.

(Big thanks as always to @Barrelelapierna for their weekly lists of the best KOs, 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.)

Carlos Anaya vs. Diego Huanca

This is why there’s a line between amateur and professional MMA, folks.

Laugh at Diego Huanca if you want. Call his costly spin move “foolish.” “Clumsy.” “Downright irresponsible.” You know what I call it? Heroic.

Here at Missed Fists headquarters, we’ll never knock a fighter for their ambition; nay, for their attempt to capture our imaginations. That’s what Huanca did in this amateur bout at an Inka MMA show in Lima, Peru, on Wednesday, throwing a spin kick that came nowhere near landing and then doubling down on his error with a backfist that left his chin completely exposed.

If you watch closely, you’ll notice just before a Carlos Anaya right hand ended his night that Huanca was actually attempting to throw his own right, indicating that all caution had truly been thrown to the wind. All in, baby!

Afterwards, it was nice to see Anaya attend to Huanca, who had a look on his face that said, “Wow, I can’t believe none of that worked.” Neither can we, Diego. Regardless, we salute you.

Inka 59 is available for replay on UFC Fight Pass.

Brendan Farnsworth vs. Rafayel Ktikyan

Seriously, the best thing about amateur MMA is that offense is usually at a far higher level than defense, meaning you get some sweet finishes like what Brendan Farnsworth did to Rafayel Ktikyan at Up Next Fighting 34.

I can’t tell you if this is the textbook way to deal with an opponent working from side control, but whatever Farnsworth did it was damn effective and a (Mike) heck of a visual. Tapology lists this one as a buggy choke, which sounds about right, though Farnsworth still deserves credit for his innovation because I certainly hadn’t seen this variation before.

Farnsworth captured a lightweight title with the win and you have to imagine a pro move is coming soon.

Angelina Calpito vs. Charyl Rush
Raymond Lawley vs. Devon Jackson

One more amateur highlight? OK, fine!

From Front Street Fights 36 (free replay available on YouTube) in Boise, Idaho:

We saw reverse nominative determinism at play here, as Angelina Calpito rushed Charyl Rush en route to a painful-looking body kick knockout. Watching the clip, it looked like Calpito was in danger of emptying that tank too early as she launched punch after punch at Rush’s defenses, but enough shots made it through, especially those body shots, and Rush eventually crumbled.

Later on the card, welterweight pro Raymond Lawley displayed a more patient approach, working his way out of a grinding position along the fence and then exploding with a no-doubt 1-2 knockout.

Asaf Chopurov vs. Reece McLaren
Pavel Andrusca vs. Gexipengchu

Hey Asaf Chopurov, I think you might be ready for the UFC, young man.

Yup, that’s longtime ONE bantamweight contender Reece McLaren falling at the hands of Chopurov in the main event of UAE Warriors 72 (available for replay on UFC Fight Pass). The 24-year-old Chopurov was going for his second defence of his UAE Warriors title on Thursday and he made it look easy, dusting McLaren with a ridiculously well-timed counter right that ended the fight in 63 seconds.

UFC Abu Dhabi goes down on Saturday, but I’m not betting on any of that card’s fighters to top Chopurov’s finish.

And he wasn’t the only undefeated bantamweight making waves this week.

Pavel Andrusca improved to 8-0 with this sniper right hand knockout over Gexipengchu.

Two power shots thrown, one man goes down. Them’s the breaks sometimes.

Gabriel dos Anjos vs. Alexandre Guerra

Sticking with Fight Pass, at Shooto Brasil 138, we had Alexandre Guerra walk right into a woodchipper that goes by the name of Gabriel dos Anjos.

We had a lot of praise for Huanca above, and Guerra deserves some love as well for marching forward with zero game plan and daring dos Anjos to outslug him. Suffice to say, dos Anjos dared.

Muhammadziz Abdurashidov vs. Seidakhmet Khudaiberenov

Let’s wrap with arguably the most picturesque knockout of the week, Muhammadziz Abdurashidov’s unreal flying switch knee against Seidakhmet Khudaiberenov.

Abdurashidov looks to be about twice Khudaiberenov’s size, so when he brings that knee up, it pretty much sends Khudaiberenov’s chin into space and his mouthpiece plummeting down to Earth.

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.