Missed Fists: Victor Hugo Madrigal makes opponent’s life miserable with armbar attempt, more

Welcome to the latest edition of Missed Fists where Jed Meshew and Alexander K. Lee 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.

The UFC was back this weekend with a trip to glamorous Moncton and the world’s largest MMA promotion will have a show every week until year’s end, but that doesn’t mean the that hunt for hidden highlights is slowing down. Join us for another cross-continental journey, starting in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Victor Hugo Madrigal vs. Christian Quinonez

AL: Normally, we begin the proceedings with a rollicking finish, but if last week’s comments are any indication, the people demand mad scrambles and mad scrambles they shall have!

From a postliminary bantamweight fight at a Combate Americas show last Friday, we give you Victor Hugo Madrigal making Christian Quinonez’s life miserable by doing everything in his power to tear his arm off:

JM: This has got to be the highlight of the weekend. That might be the most torqued I’ve ever seen an arm that didn’t end up getting a tap. Quinonez must be related to Mr. Fantastic because that was unreal.

On the one hand, I wonder if going belly down immediately would have gotten the tap; on the other, I think that Quinonez might just have those unbreakable Gumby arms you find on some people. Either way, Madrigal learned from his mistake, opting to ultimately choke out Quinonez instead of try to break him.

The old BJJ adage holds true: some people just can’t be submitted with joint locks. But everyone can get choked.

AL: That eventual third-round submission snapped a two-fight losing skid for Madrigal, who had to be wondering if he was truly snakebitten when that armbar didn’t end things.

You can catch the rest of that fight and a replay of the main card with a subscription to DAZN, and check out the preliminary action free of charge on the Combate Americas Facebook page.

Yibugele vs. Zia Mashwani
Najam Khan vs. Mohammad Wasim

JM: Alright, so now that we’ve got the scrambling out of the way, let’s switch things up to the concussive highlights, courtesy of the best MMA the Middle East has to offer, Brave Combat Federation.

By virtue of some pieces I’ve done for this site, I’ve actually had a decent amount of exposure to Brave CF, but their event in Lahore, Pakistan on Saturday had some real gems in it, most notably, the vicious KO by the mononymous Yibugele.

AL: Yibugele is the name, and apparently flattening featherweights is his game.

This was actually Mashwani’s first pro bout and I can only imagine what it must feel like to have this bloodied, Mongolian Terminator marching towards you after having already traded shots with him for almost 15 minutes. There’s not even any setup to the right hand that ends this one, Yibugele just fires it from the hip and the ensuing impact leaves Mashwani laid out.

JM: This was not some super technical KO. This was one dude slangin’ them thangs. The textbook definition of shooting from the hip and it paid off in awesome fashion. I sincerely hope that Yibugele becomes a great fighter (or, at least a notable one) because MMA needs more mononyms. Who else is there to take up the mantle of Zuluzinho?

AL: And to think we’d almost gone a month without a workplace Zuluzinho reference.

Also at Brave, we had a gorgeous ninja choke performed by Najam Khan. As the name of the maneuver suggests, Khan discretely slipped this one on Mohammad Wasim as the two welterweights were working against the fence and it wasn’t long before Wasim had to choose between tapping or napping.

JM: He opted for the little known third choice — a sudden visit to the shadowlands.

AL: I’ve heard it’s a little chilly there this time of year.

JM: Ninja chokes are invariably among the most vicious choke holds in the sport and this was no exception. By the time Wasim realized what was up, Khan already had his neck six ways to Sunday and though he tried to fight it off, the ninja choke put him down with the quickness.

That was the pro debut for both fighters, and after a finish like that, I’d be willing to watch Khan lace them up again.

AL: Fans can check out Khan’s successful debut for themselves, as well as a wild co-main event scrap between Jeremy Pacatiw and Uloomi Karim Shaheen by ordering the Brave CF 17 replay on FITE TV.

Jose Luis Cordoba vs. Daniel Osorio
Aaron Canarte vs. Jose Conejo
Esteban Gomez vs. Alexander Luna

AL: Heading on over to an Ultimate Combat Challenge show in Panama from last Friday (which is free to view on their YouTube channel), we have a trio of finishes that warrant further attention. Before we get into that though, we want to give a shout-out to Twitter user @Barrelelapierna for blessing us all with this thread of bloodshed, so do give him a follow please.

JM: Shout out to all the Twitter GIFers who work tirelessly to document the wooly and wild MMA nonsense from around the world. Y’all the real MVPs.

Anyway, I’ve never heard of UCC before now but going off their propensity for violence and the fact that they put their events up on YouTube, I like the cut of their jib. And I especially like the way Jose Luis Cordoba values my own personal time, taking care of Daniel Osorio in a tidy six seconds.

In the immortal words of Krazy Horse: “That’s the fastest paycheck ever!”

AL: *resets “days without a workplace Charles Bennett reference” board to zero*

Aaron Canarte had to put in considerably more effort to top Jose Conejo, but the results were arguably even more spectacular:

JM: Canarte is getting teed off on and pulls a rabbit out of his hat in the form of a thunderous left hook. At their most basic, you have two kinds of fighters: ones who back up when hurt and ones who throw back. Canarte is clearly in the second category and it worked out pretty well for him.

But, insanely, that wasn’t even the KO of the weekend. Esteban Gomez went out there and snatched Alexander Luna’s soul on the very same card.

UCC 42 was bananagrams.

AL: And that leads us into another edition of everyone’s favorite game show, Who Kicked It Better?

That’s right, Mr. Gomez’s finish will be going up against Artur Sviridov’s head kick knockout of Ilyas Khamzin at RCC 4 in Ekaterinburg, Russia, from Saturday.

Big contrast in execution here as Gomez just walked forward and unloaded on Luna with a pair of high kicks, while Sviridov’s 40-second finish occurred almost as he was stepping back before firing the fight-ending strike.

JM: Look, I don’t want to denigrate the fine, shin-to-chin skills of Mr. Sviridov. It was a perfectly fine kick. But while Sviridov performed a well-executed head kick, Gomez performed an execution. I will always favor the KO shot that doesn’t just addle someone’s brain but cold slabs the body. Gomez in a landslide.

AL: As always, we’ll let the readers have the final say. They can also check out the full card themselves for free on RCC’s YouTube channel.

That’s all for this week, thanks to everyone for playing, and remember: eat healthy, be kind to one another, and always respect your elders.

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.