//

Missed Fists: Asiashu Tshitamba channels peak Anderson Silva, more

August 15, 2019
Asiashu Tshitamba lands a stunning front kick on Billy Oosthuizen at EFC Worldwide 81 in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Aug. 10, 2019 | @DAZN_USA, Twitter

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.

It’s been too long since we’ve blessed the rains down in (South) Africa, so let’s start off at EFC Worldwwide 81 in Johannesburg.

Asiashu Tshitamba vs. Billy Oosthuizen
Pierre Botha vs. Tumisang Madiba

AL: This is Asiashu Tshitamba. Here’s what you need to know about him.

He kick a da chin.

Then he punch a da face.

JM: That is the KO of the Year so far. Truly a world-class knockout. And I love the first angle the clip shows: Billy Oosthuizen’s head snaps back in the most sudden and unexpected way. Then the fact that he is frozen in an almost standing position before finally succumbing to gravity is just *kisses the fingers* perfection.

AL: Real life juggle combos are always going to get a lot of love in these parts, so well done Mr. Tshitamba.

Not quite as smooth but no less perfect was Pierre Botha’s finish of Tumisang Madiba in the evening’s co-main event.

Then again, there’s no arguing with a 17-second knockout is there?

JM: Not all things have to be aesthetically perfect. Some things can be beautiful despite their flaws. No one would ever call what Botha did “technically brilliant,” but it was undeniably effective and hilarious to watch.

EFC Worldwide 81 is available to watch on DAZN, with the preliminary portion free on Facebook.

Lance Lee vs. Rey Martinez

AL: Okay, so there’s a lot to unpack here.

From Shamrock FC 321 (available for PPV replay on FITE TV) in Kansas City, Missouri, we have an amateur bout between Lance Lee and Rey Martinez. Though that doesn’t quite do justice to what happened here.

According to Tapology, Martinez was 1-0 heading into this bout. Lee was 7-39.

7. And 39.

That would lead me to believe this match was made for Martinez’s benefit but as you can see, that’s not even close to what happened.

JM: Of course he entered the bout with a 7-39 record. Look at him! I know literally nothing about Lee, but if heading into this fight you told me he was gonna not only pull of a head kick, but land it flush and KO Martinez, I’d have bet you damn near anything in the world that he wouldn’t. And that’s how one of these days I’m gonna end up with only three fingers on my right hand.

Credit to Lee though, it’s not every day you get a highlight-reel KO. Maybe this is just the incentive he needs to go pro.

AL: And credit to the referee who jumped in before Lee could follow up, though I guess it wasn’t that difficult since it took Martinez’s body a few extra seconds to shut down after getting kicked right in the mush.

I just had this horrible thought about what Martinez would look like right now if he’d taken a kick like that without a mouthguard. Moving on.

Kaleb Harris vs. Johnavan Vistante
Quentin Henry vs. Bubba Malbrough
Jim Alers vs. Leonard Garcia

JM: We gave BKFC 7 a fair bit of coverage already but there are a few highlights from here we can’t help but give more shine too. So given that, let’s keep this short and sweet.

First, we’ve got what on any other weekend would be the clear cut winner of KO of the Week. Unfortunately, given Asiashu Tshitamba’s channeling peak Anderson Silva, Kaleb Harris will have to settle for the silver medal with this bit of savagery.

Ouch.

AL: Apparently in bare-knuckle, it is legal to punch someone’s head off of their head.

JM: Seems reasonable.

That wasn’t all though. BKFC kicked things off with a beauty of a shot that dislodged a mouthpiece as well as a consciousness.

AL: If your name is “Bubba,” there’s probably a one-in-three chance that you’ve been involved in a bare-knuckle fight before. Sadly, that experience didn’t help Bubba Malbrough here. Quentin Henry was already beating him bloody before landing that fateful shot. This is bare-knuckle at its most brutal, folks.

JM: Also, we’d be failing in our jobs if we didn’t at least give a quick shout out to the main event. Jim Alers and Leonard Garcia didn’t fight for long, but they packed a ton of action into 98 seconds.

Garcia is well past it at this point, but you can never doubt that man’s heart.

AL: Alers is a legitimately solid MMA fighter still in his prime, so it almost seems unfair throwing him into a situation like this (he stepped in on short notice for an injured Jason Knight). Then again, after the fight he called for a bout with Artem Lobov, so at least he’s already moving up to the highest possible level of competition.

Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Sidemar Honorio
Emiliano Sordi vs. Bozigit Ataev

JM: Over in PFL let’s check in on the continuing rise of the next Nurmagomedov, Khabib’s little cousin Umar who is among the top prospects in the entire sport. You may recall us talking about him less than a month ago but Umar has been busy, picking up his eleventh career win, this time by dominant decision where he displayed some nifty striking you don’t expect to see out of a man named Nurmagomedov.

AL: The PFL is doing an excellent job of showcasing Nurmagomedov, debuting him last year and then giving him a main card spot on this year’s season finale to allow him to strut his stuff. They don’t have a bantamweight division yet, but he’s being groomed as a future PFL (and maybe someday, UFC) champion.

I confess, I’m guilty of having slept on Emiliano Sordi so far. I wrote off his TKO win over Vinny Magalhaes to open the season as “Vinny being Vinny,” but there is no denying that Sordi is nasty after this merciless finish of Bozigit Ataev that avenged a knockout loss from last year.

Sordi enters the PFL tournament as the No. 1 seed and in prime position to capture the light heavyweight championship and a $1,000,000 prize.

JM: How could you ever sleep on that hair? Just look at that flow. Feathered and lethal.

Emily Ducote vs. Janaisa Morandin
Victoria Leonardo vs. Stephanie Geltmacher

AL: Over in Kansas City, Kansas, last Friday, we saw one-time Bellator flyweight title challenger Emily Ducote make her Invicta debut and it was a beaut:

For anyone questioning the strength of Bellator’s flyweight division, Ducote just came over from there and smoked one of Invicta’s contenders. Making it even sweeter is the fact that Janaisa Morandin missed weight for this matchup, so there’s some karmic justice as well.

JM: That was a nice throwback to the days when missing weight meant you probably had a bad camp and weren’t going to do well as opposed to nowadays when it usually means you’re fighting three weight classes below your natural weight and you’re gonna have a huge edge in the cage.

And great win for Ducote. She ran up against the wall in Bellator, but Invicta is a great spot for her to sharpen things up and rebuild herself and her career. After all, she’s only 25. There’s plenty of opportunity for her to improve.

AL: And last but certainly not least, maybe my favorite fight of the week, Victoria Leonardo vs. Stephanie Geltmacher.

Geltmacher is earning a reputation for arguably being Invicta’s most entertaining fighter and she didn’t disappoint here. She has kind of that “Clay Guida perpetual motion” thing going for her, but with more aggression. She’s also a shade over five-feet tall and competing at 125 pounds, which is fun.

JM: As always, I have nothing but the utmost respect for fighters who are willing to forego common decency and self preservation to provide us with a good old-fashioned slugfest. Brava!

The same does not hold true for the judges/announcer (frankly, I’m not entirely sure who to blame here). To you I say, “For shame!”

AL: Leonardo got the victory here, but not before the scorecards were read wrong in Geltmacher’s favor somehow (what was announced as a split decision win for Geltmacher turned out to be a unanimous decision win for Leonardo).

We usually don’t give out homework, but if our readers can help decipher w t f happened here, it would be greatly appreciated.

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 Twitter @JedKMeshew and @AlexanderKLee using the hashtag #MissedFists.

Post a Comment

No comments

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )