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.
MMA
Missed Fists | ‘What the hell was this ref thinking?’: Pros react to referee freezing during brutal knockout beatdown
Published
3 weeks agoon
Herb Dean has justifiably been taking a lot of guff lately, to the point that we've all wondered several times over the past few years why he's still officiating fights, much less important fights for major promotions.
Well, it could be because the alternatives are grim.
(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.)
Byron Wilson vs. Skyler King
Admittedly, you've got to dig deep to find a referee worse than Hokey Pokey Herb (h/t Mike Heck). Our search takes us to the great state of Georgia, where referee Nate Mann might have actually dissociated during the main event of National Fighting Championship 191.
Byron Wilson was absolutely wailing on Skyler King, so Mann could have stepped in at any moment during that onslaught; instead, he barely moved even after Wilson walked off assuming the fight was over since King was hardly defending himself. Of course, fighters shouldn't waive off their own fights, but I'm not going to blame Wilson for not wanting to do any more unnecessary damage.
After the most awkward of pauses, Wilson went right back in and clobbered King with a hard punch (OK, maybe he wanted to do a little more unnecessary damage), which finally snapped Mann back to reality as he moved to stop the fight.
Making this scene even worse, Wilson and King are essentially amateurs, with Wilson fighting for just the second time as a pro and King making his debut. You've got to protect these guys, come on, Mann.
I'm not alone in this as several pros reacted to the clip in the comments.
Chris Weidman: What the hell was this ref thinking?
Jason Miller: NPC REFEREE
Eryk Anders: Ref trippin
Shane Burgos: Refs need to be held accountable for shit like this
King himself even jumped into the comments to question the referee's judgment:
As the guy who took the shot: not really sure how the ref didn't realize I wasn't fighting back when the opponent walked away. I assumed the fight was over because otherwise why would the shots stop?? There was more than enough time to tell that I wasn't getting back into the action
Turpal Khamzayev vs. Angelo Pettis
Miguel Sanson vs. Mefi Monterroso
Josue Sotero vs. Ronnie Gibbs
As plenty of athletes will tell you, it's hard carrying a famous name, and that's just as true in combat sports.
Ladies and gentlemen, here's Angelo Pettis.
Being the cousin of MMA champions Anthony and Sergio is always going to bring plenty of expectations, especially when you consider how they both excelled at a young age, and it's been a tough go for the 21-year-old Angelo so far. In his second pro fight, he was submitted by Gage Mitchell, and this past Sunday he suffered his first knockout loss after taking some brutal kicks from Turpal Khamzayev.
That's a fantastic finish by Khamzayev, who chopped Angelo down before ending it with a flashy spinning wheel kick that the Pettis family should appreciate.
Fortunately for Angelo, he might not have been the worst knockout victim of the night, as Miguel Sanson caught Mefi Monterroso with a savage knee with Monterroso trying to stand up from the mat.
Josue Sotero topped both of those efforts, needing just 22 seconds to put Ronnie Gibbs away with a slick heel hook.
The 24-year-old Sotero improved to 5-0, with three of his wins coming in under a minute.
Anthony Pettis FC 24 is available to stream on UFC Fight Pass.
Damien Deleon vs. Terrell Nixon
Jeremiah Delgado vs. Vincenzo Iannuzzo
Jarrod St. Jean vs. Alius Delarosa
We have a few more Fight Pass goodies, starting with Damien Deleon scoring a ridiculous 11-second head kick knockout over Terrell Nixon on the Fury FC postliminary fights.
Over at CFFC 159, Jeremiah Delgado landed an even better head kick knockout against Vincenzo Iannuzzo.
Started celebrating before Iannuzzo's body even hit the canvas.
Jarrod St. Jean might have a future as a psychic because he perfectly slipped a short hook from Alius Delarosa while simultaneously landing a counter on the money.
Tater McSpadden vs. Fred Freeman
If St. Jean is psychic, Tater McSpadden might be a magician because he showed some serious sleight of hand (er, knee) at an Xtreme Fight Night event in Tulsa, Okla.
Had to watch that one multiple times to see where he slipped in the knee, but it's there, and it was more than enough to stun Fred Freeman and leave him open to some fight-ending hellbows.
Lucas Alfaro vs. Francisco Pepa
At Concordia Fight Night 8 in Argentina, Lucas Alfaro sent Francisco Pepa on a one-way trip to Buenos Aires with a limb-lifting spin kick.
Dude flew, like, two-thirds of the cage on that one.
Marsel Nurlanbek vs. Ermek Nuranov
Let's end on a nightmarish note.
I've often wondered what it would look like if someone didn't tap to a Suloev stretch fast enough and thanks to Octagon League's Marsel Nurlanbek, I have my answer.
Wish I hadn't found out. But I did and now you have, too.
Octagon League 90 is available for free replay on YouTube.
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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MMA
UFC champ Justin Gaethje stumps for Trump at GOP midterm convention
Published
3 minutes agoon
September 11, 2026
Gaethje is campaigning for the Republican Party in the upcoming
United States midterm elections.
Gaethje recently took to the podium at the 2026 Republican Midterm
Convention in Dallas. The
Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder strongly
supported Donald Trump, emphasizing the importance of voting.
Justin Gaethje urges Republican turnout during speech at Dallas
convention
He urged Republican supporters to vote with the same fervor as they
did in the 2024 presidential election. Gaethje also believes
President Trump and the Republican Party want the best for
everyone, even their political competitors.
“In fighting, your last fight is how people remember you, but your
next fight is the only one that matters,†Gaethje said. “Everybody
has to understand how important these elections are and we have to
get out and vote. One mistake I’ve made in my career was becoming
complacent while I was on a winning streak and forgetting how
unforgiving my sport can be. If we are not just as passionate about
voting and winning in these midterms as we were in the last
presidential election, then we risk getting knocked out and losing
all the momentum we have been fighting for. Everything we want for
the future of America is at stake. I want to live under a
conservative form of government in a free and capitalist society.
And I truly believe President Trump wants the best for every
American, no matter the political side of the aisle they fall
on.â€
Apart from Gaethje, Bo Nickal
(9-1) also spoke at the convention. Nickal thanked Trump for his
constant support and the opportunity to compete at
UFC Freedom 250 at the White House this past June.
Trump is a close friend of UFC CEO Dana
White and has also had the support of several UFC stars
previously. Colby
Covington, Jorge
Masvidal and Henry
Cejudo, among others, have previously taken to the stage to
publicly back Trump.
Justin
Gaethje spoke at the 2026 Republican Midterm Convention and
urged people to turn out for the midterm elections:“In fighting, your last fight is how people remember you, but your
next fight is the only one that matters.One mistake I’ve made in my career was becoming… pic.twitter.com/sXFZFZpDxQ
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS)
September 10, 2026
MMA
Zabit Magomedsharipov’s undefeated brother gets biggest test yet at PFL Dubai
Published
2 hours agoon
September 10, 2026
Professional Fighters League's next Dubai card is taking
shape.
The event, scheduled for Nov. 14 at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, will
be headlined by a heavyweight title clash between Vadim
Nemkov and Sergey
Bilostenniy. Two more bouts have now been added to the card,
featuring a former Bellator
MMA champ and the brother of a former
Ultimate Fighting Championship star.
Khasan Magomedsharipov faces Adam Borics on Nov. 14 PFL Dubai
card
Sergio
Pettis (25-8) is set to take on Joji Goto
(20-9) in a bantamweight tilt at
PFL Dubai. Pettis is coming off a decision loss to Mitchell
McKee this past April, which snapped a two-fight winning
streak. Meanwhile, Goto, who makes his PFL debut, is coming off a
first-round submission win over Azizbek
Temirov.
Khasan
Magomedsharipov (11-0) will look to maintain his perfect record
when he takes on Adam Borics
(20-4) in a featherweight matchup at PFL Dubai. Khasan is the
brother of former UFC standout Zabit
Magomedsharipov and often displays a similarly well-rounded
skill set.
A flyweight
title fight headlines PFL Chicago: Tune in on Saturday, Oct. 16 at
11 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Khasan has finished eight of his 11 career wins so far and is
coming off a first-round submission win over Joshua
Weems. Meanwhile, Borics has dropped two of his last three and
comes off a decision loss against A.J. McKee.
The Hungarian is a wily veteran with a ton of experience and likely
to be Magomedsharipov's toughest test so far.
ð™ð™€ð˜¼ð™ð™ƒð™€ð™ð™’ð™€ð™„ð™‚ð™ƒð™ ð˜½ð˜¼ð™‰ð™‚ð™€ð™ ð™„𙉠ð˜¿ð™ð˜½ð˜¼ð™„! 🇦🇪🔜
Undefeated Khasan Magomedsharipov clashes with the always dangerous
Adam Borics in this battle of ranked Featherweights on Saturday,
November 14th as the PFL returns to Dubai! #PFLDubai
| Saturday , November 14th |… pic.twitter.com/ucyb4DrU6U— PFL (@PFLMMA)
September 10, 2026
MMA
Tom Aspinall attacked by top heavyweight in X-rated rant amidst long hiatus
Published
8 hours agoon
September 10, 2026
Credit: Waleed Zein/AnadoluA top UFC heavyweight believes it's time for Tom Aspinall to put up or shut up when it comes to his long hiatus from competition.
Undisputed UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall remains sidelined after undergoing multiple eye surgeries stemming from his no contest at UFC 321 last year. Just minutes into his title defense against Ciryl Gane, Aspinall was unable to continue competing after getting hit with several accidental eye pokes.
Despite initial optimism that Aspinall could return to the Octagon in September, the undisputed heavyweight champion still hasn't been medically cleared to fight. UFC CEO Dana White hinted that the matchmakers are preparing to ‘move on' from Aspinall's title reign if he remains sidelined for the foreseeable future.
After Gane won the interim heavyweight title earlier this year, a timeline for a potential Aspinall vs. Gane rematch remains uncertain. In the meantime, a top heavyweight contender is becoming increasingly frustrated with Aspinall's postponed comeback.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta scorches ‘p—-‘ Tom Aspinall over long UFC absence
During his Noche UFC pre-fight press conference, Waldo Cortes-Acosta was asked about whether or not the UFC should strip Aspinall of his heavyweight title.
“Yeah, it's a lot of frustration to see the champion be like this,†Cortes-Acosta said of Aspinall.
“He knows that he needs to come back and fight with Ciryl Gane. I think he's got a p—-, and I think he'll have a long time to heal and come back to fight for the title, but this is not the champion. For me, this is not the champion.
“The champion is someone who has a problem, fixes it, and tries to come back, fights and is a warrior, not a p—-. I don't know where he is, trying to hide because he doesn't want to fight Ciryl Gane.†(h/t Bloody Elbow)
Cortes-Acosta isn't the only star fighter who is impatient with Aspinall and his team. Former two-division champion Henry Cejudo called for Aspinall to relinquish his heavyweight title to allow the division to move on.
Should the UFC strip Tom Aspinall of his title? Share your thoughts in the comments!
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
UFC champ Justin Gaethje stumps for Trump at GOP midterm convention
Zabit Magomedsharipov’s undefeated brother gets biggest test yet at PFL Dubai
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