Missed Fists: Fighter loses chunks of hair defending against armbar attack

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.

Fouls come in all shapes and sizes in combat sports and we’ve all become accustomed to rolling our eyes at the frequency with which they happen and the often ineffectual refereeing that follows (I’m sure fighters live in fear of the infamous “hard warning”). One maneuver that’s definitely against the rules but that we don’t see too often is the pulling of the hair, probably because it’s not something one can easily get away with and because it’s just a not-so-nice thing to do.

At a Zaruba Fight Night show in Dubai, someone’s long locks ended up being involved in the finish, though it’s hard to call this one a foul, strictly speaking.

(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.)

(And in case you missed out on last Friday’s Dogfight Wild Tournament 2nd Impact show that featured several bizarre match variations including a 5-on-1 “Last Survivor” fight and a Bloodsport-themed mini tournament, don’t worry. MMA Fighting has got you covered.)

Robbie Scott vs. Ahmed Mohamed Sobhy

Robbie Scott and Ahmed Mohamed Sobhy put their grappling skills to the test against one another and it’s Scott who seemed to get the better of the duel after snatching an armbar in the second round.

If only it were that simple.

Firstly, we have to talk about what happened with Sobhy’s hair. As he and Scott tangled on the mat, his hair literally became tangled between them and chunks of it began to be ripped from Sobhy’s head. I don’t know if this was his natural hair coming out, or some sort of synthetic extension, either way it was all over the place by the time Scott secured what appeared to be a fight-winning armbar.

As you can see from the clip above, Sobhy’s tap-out is nowhere to be seen, so we were left to wonder if maybe there was a verbal tap, or perhaps Sobhy cried out in pain, which is also grounds for a referee to stop a fight. Unfortunately for Scott, after a lengthy replay review, the stoppage was overturned and the bout was ruled a no-contest.

Nobody wants to see a fight end like that, even though it’s a good call for Sobhy, who was working his way out of the armbar. Let’s hope whoever does his hair can salvage that situation as well.

Zaruba Fight Night 6 is available for free replay on YouTube.

David Zawada vs. Hojat Khajevand

MMA veteran David Zawada didn’t have much luck with the UFC or the PFL and it looked like his recent appearance for Oktagon MMA was going to continue that trend. However, the German middleweight thrilled the crowd in Oberhausen, battling back from adversity to beat Hojat Khajevand with a heel hook out of nowhere.

Just that portion of the fight was a roller-coaster with both fighters wildly jockeying for position. Zawada looked like he was adapting on the fly and whatever he was doing paid off in the end as he scored just his second win since 2019. It’s worth noting that Oktagon utilizes open scoring, so if that helped to create a sense of urgency for Zawada, then a tip of the cap to that whole concept this time.

Nasir Davis vs. Michael Eastwood

From Fierce FC 30 (replay available via pay-per-view) in West Valley City, Utah:

That’s Nasir Davis with a zinging right hand that cracked the jaw of Michael Eastwood. Davis showed some truly impressive range management there, letting loose with a punch at a distance from which he knew Eastwood couldn’t threaten him.

Davis has won amateur flyweight titles in back-to-back fights, both via first-round knockout, so he’s certainly a dark horse prospect to watch going forward.

Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Allan St-Gelais

We head to the UFC Fight Pass realm now for a series of fantastic highlights, starting with Mansur Abdul-Malik’s hellacious knockout of Allan St-Gelais at LFA 176 in Phoenix. Last week, we featured a couple of insanely powerful ground-and-pound finishes, but Abdul-Malik has those beat.

Ugly stuff, but we definitely don’t have to worry about Abdul-Malik needing to develop a mean streak. The 26-year-old middleweight has finished all of his first four fights by first-round knockout. Afterwards, Abdul-Malik used his mic time to call for Mick Maynard to give him a shot in the UFC. Don’t expect him to have to wait too long.

Bilal Hasan vs. Jacob Romano

At Cage Fury Fighting Championship 129 in Philadelphia, 22-year-old flyweight Bilal Hasan absolutely smoked Jacob Romano with this spinning heel kick.

This was the opposite of Abdul-Malik’s ground-and-pound KO. This was a thing of beauty.

Hasan improved to 3-0 (1 NC) with the win and looks to be on the right track after making his pro debut just 14 months ago.

Rod Costa vs. Alan Philpott

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

An Australian champion goes up in weight in pursuit of a second title and loses twice, but finds success as he drops back down a division.

Of course, I’m talking about Eternal MMA’s Rod Costa, who defended his bantamweight belt in Perth after a couple of recent setbacks at featherweight.

Costa did it in style too, showing off some seriously slick jiu-jitsu to trap 36-fight veteran Alan Philpott in an arm triangle from bottom position.

But yeah, can’t think of any other Australian fighters in a similar position that are fighting anytime soon.

Khan Deatta put an exclamation point on his fight with Jong Hwan Lee, biding his time and waiting for an opening to throw a series of elbows that left Lee loopy.

Dude’s head was bouncing off the cage from those ‘bows.

In an amateur featherweight bout, Yohanes Lorot and Joel Hogan threw the kitchen sink at each other to the point that when I first watched this clip, I had no clue where the KO strike was going to come from.

As it turns out, it was a good, old-fashioned, jaw-jacking jumping knee that won Lorot the fight on this day.

Damion Nelson vs. Don Shainis

We mentioned big show veteran David Zawada rebounding from a tough stretch earlier, but the same can’t be said for Don Shainis. Including an 0-2 stint in the UFC, Shainis has lost four of his past five fights with this latest loss at a Combat FC show in Wilmington, Mass., being the most devastating.

Damien Nelson landed a glancing left hook that hit just the right spot, causing Shainis to face-plant and earning him our Humpty Dumpty Fall of the Week award. Congrats, I guess?

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 — @AlexanderKLee — using the hashtag #MissedFists.