Missed Fists: Nightmarish heel hook causes fighter to flail in agony

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.

Tap or snap.

It’s one of the oldest adages of modern MMA and fortunately the former is adhered to more frequently than the latter. That said, we’ve all seen our fair share of limb submissions ending in horror, with a fighter either being too tough for their own good or not realizing the danger they’re in until it’s too late.

I don’t think we’ve ever seen a reaction quite like what we just saw in Sandton, South Africa.

(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.)

Kelvin Smit vs. David Makane
Siyanda Vilakazi vs. Tebatso Matlhobowane

Thursday’s Extreme Fighting Championship Worldwide event opened with two of the nastiest finishes you’ll see all year.

In the second bout of the evening, Kelvin Smit had the perfect counter after David Makane caught his leg. Smit instantly reversed the situation, wrapping Makane’s right leg up and then latching on for a heel hook.

Seconds later, Makane was screaming and flailing in submission.

No one should blame Makane for his panicked reaction as it looks like his leg got popped almost as soon as they hit the mat. Forget looking tough, if you’re Makane you just want the fight to be over NOW.

This is normally the part in Missed Fists where I point fingers at someone for a fight not being stopped early enough, but there’s really nothing anyone could do here. Makane barely had a chance to defend himself, referee Ferdie Basson immediately signaled for the stoppage when Makane cried out, and Smit released the hold as fast as possible. And still, Makane was left nearly unconscious with pain.

You can see how concerned Smit is, he can’t even celebrate the win. This is the grim reality of the fight game in a nutshell.

Just one fight before, another fighter paid the price for sloppily snagging a leg.

Tebatso Matlhobowane was clipped early and instinctively went for a takedown, which proved to be his undoing. A gassed-up Siyanda Vilakazi kept his balance before hopping and raising his knee directly into Matlhobowane’s chin. Matlhobowane was totally out of it after that daring strike and Vilakazi followed up with punches to clinch a 10-second knockout.

Extreme Fighting Championship Worldwide events are available to watch with a subscription to EFCWorldwide TV.

Lemuel Suarez vs. Jacob Arevalo

Is it jumping knee season already and nobody told me?

At a Reto de Campeones event in Lima, Peru, Lemuel Suarez was blistering Jacob Arevalo with clinch knees before going airborne to finish the job. This finish was logged at 14 seconds, so not quite Vilakazi speed, but pretty damn fast!

Joaquin Vargas vs. Marco Saavedra

You know the knockouts are good this week when a spinning elbow face-plant knockout doesn’t lead the list.

From Knockout Champions 23 in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, take it away, Joaquin Vargas!

That is a gorgeous read by the Argentinian, who saw that opponent Marco Saavedra was overextending and overaggressive. He fakes a jab while checking an incoming kick and then plants his lead foot just as he starts to unwind his elbow. Perfection.

Ezequiel Peralta vs. Alvaro Chaparro

We’ve had plenty of fast finishes, so let’s go to a late coup de grâce, courtesy of Ezequiel Peralta at Fighting Force 14 in Dominican Republic.

Never leave it in the hands of the judges, they always say, and Peralta may as well have ripped up the scorecards himself the way he dusted off Alvaro Chaparro. With about 30 seconds left in their fight, Peralta loaded up the right and landed two absolute no-doubters to leave Chaparro mangled against the cage.

You can catch up on Fighting Force bouts for free on YouTube.

Hirotaka Fukuyama vs. Dong Hyun Kim

OK, back to the blink-and-you-missed-it department.

A springy Hirotaka Fukuyama straight-up karate punched Dong Hyun Kim (not to be confused with that Dong Hyun Kim or “Maestro” Dong Hyun Kim) at a co-promoted Angel’s Fighting Championship/Heat event in Vung Tau, Vietnam. Fukuyama instantly went from out-fighting to going all-in and Kim had little chance to avoid that one.

Officially, the time of the stoppage as 10 seconds, but Kim was out as soon as that punch connected.

Watch more free AFC action on YouTube.

Pargev Khachatrian vs. Tony Whitfield

From an amateur bout at an Up Next Fighting event in Commerce, Calif., Pargev Khachatrian was patient with his attack and he was rewarded with a head kick knockout.

His opponent Tony Whitfield was way too lackadaisical with his hands, never really establishing his defense as he worked up off of his back. Khachatrian recognized that Whitfield was vulnerable, let his leg fly, and boom, bye-bye mouthpiece.

Ulukbek Ikashev vs. Mekan Divanov

And bye bye consciousness for Mekan Divanov, another of this week’s head kick victims.

Uzbekistan’s Ulukbek Ikashev improved to 7-0 with this looping strike that, to Divavnov, probably felt like a thick chunk of scaffolding falling on his head. He was gone when he hit the canvas and brought back to life by a cracking hammerfist. Just let him sleep next time, bro.

Naiza FC 62 took place in Aktau, Kazakhstan, and a free replay of the event is available on YouTube.

Thomas Cleret vs. Jordan Nandor

We started with an ugly submission from Thursday so it’s only fitting that we end with an ugly submission from Thursday.

At Ares FC 23 (replay available on UFC Fight Pass) in Aubervilliers, France, Thomas Cleret forced Jordan Nandor to do his best Elongated Man impression to snag a submission with less than 15 seconds left in Round 1.

That’s a truly gut-wrenching Americana (Francicana?) and Nandor is lucky that he didn’t end up screaming in agony like Makane.

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.