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.

We like to focus on the fun and positive and weird when we bring you these clips, but sometimes you have to allow room for the sad. This is one of those times.

(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.)

K-Jee vs. Jerome Le Banner

On paper, matching 51-year-old Jerome Le Banner up with K-Jee might not have seemed like the worst idea, but it starts to look bad once you dig into the specifics of the pairing.

Yes, Le Banner, one of the most exciting strikers to ever live, hadn’t lost a kickboxing match in over 10 years prior to his appearance at this past Saturday’s K-1 World Grand Prix in Osaka, Japan, but he hasn’t exactly been facing K-1 competition, to put it kindly. He’s also competed sporadically outside of a burst of activity in 2019, and even continued to dabble in MMA, including whatever the hell this was a couple of years ago.

And yes, K-Jee hasn’t exactly been on a hot streak, coming into the Le Banner fight on five straight losses. But his quality of opponents has been notably higher and, perhaps more importantly, he’s 18 years younger than Le Banner.

All of this is to say that Le Banner’s late career win streak was finally snapped and in the most brutal manner possible.

I’d say I’m sorry you had to watch this, but I had to, so you should, too.

Now that Le Banner’s latest attempt to capture an elusive K-1 World Grand Prix title has come to an abrupt end, is it possible we’ve seen the last of the French legend? This is combat sports, so I wouldn’t bet on it.

Samuel Bunche vs. Zongo Boureima

While we’ve got the kickboxing gloves on, let’s check out what went down at the Combat at the Garden in New York.

Yikes!

That’s Canada’s Samuel Bunche separating Zongo Boureima from his senses with a left hand and temporarily turning the ring into a bouncy castle, with an out-cold Boureima being bounced off the ropes. I suppose it’s better than slamming into the mat with a thud? I’d rather not find out myself, personally.

The Ring of Combat-promoted kickboxing event is available for pay-per-view replay on TrillerTV.

Erkin Kazhymukhan vs. Zhavokhir Narzullaev
Amirkhon Alukhudzhaev vs. Nurbek Tazhibaev
Azizbek Temirov vs. Sherzod Ibodiloev
Kambarbek Shyndaulet vs. Asadbek Jorayev

I’m not entirely sure what was going on with Octagon League’s Erkin Kazhymukhan, but the man wanted to soccer kick real bad and he would not be denied.

In case you’re wondering, no, soccer kicks are not legal in Octagon League and Kazhymukhan was disqualified. He’s living his life his way though, respect.

Amirkhon Alukhudzhaev didn’t break any rules, but sometimes it feels like face-plant knockouts like this one should be illegal.

That’s four straight wins now for Alukhudzhaev, all in the first round.

If you want a textbook example of “going for it,” check out Azizbek Temirov’s lightning fast lunging right hand KO of Sherzod Ibodiloev.

He threw that lead left from a mile away with all the intention of following with a right hand from hell and somehow, it all came together for the perfect finish.

A replay of Octagon League 64 is available for free on YouTube, as is a related event that also went down this week, Octagon Selection 45.

That show featured this truly vicious knockout by Kambarbek Shyndaulet that left opponent Asadbek Jorayev with a vacant look in his eyes.

Thankfully, Jorayev was able to walk out on his own power not long after, but I assume he’ll be thinking about what he witnessed between realms for a while.

Gracjan Mis vs. Milosz Kruk
Bartosz Kwiatkowski vs. Mateusz Sosnowski

At Fight Exclusive Nights 56 in Wroclaw, Poland, Gracjan Mis landed a beautiful flying knee on Milosz Kruk to secure a first-round finish.

If you’re still bummed about Jose Aldo losing a dreary decision to Mario Bautista (I know I am!), then maybe that Aldo-esque strike will make you feel better.

If not, this Bartosz Kwiatkowski could do the trick.

Catch the kick, make your opponent do a little dance, and then WHAMMO.

Tatsuma Okada vs. Takumi Yagi

I’ve never heard of Japan’s POUNDOUT promotion, but it held its inaugural event in Chiba, Japan, this past Saturday and you can watch it for free on YouTube.

If anything, the show gave us one of the most unique arm-triangle submissions I’ve ever seen.

Who even thinks to attack with that move from that angle? Craziness.

Kai Yoshida vs. Yuki Ueda
Ryo Araki vs. Masateru Sawada
Rukiya Mukai vs. Shunsuke Kubota

We started in Osaka, so let’s close in Osaka with GLADIATOR 028 (free on YouTube), which featured a trio of must-see knockouts.

Best of all was Kai Yoshida’s unreal spinning elbow finish, which came after he survived some punishing grappling by Yuki Ueda.

Every second counts, as they say.

The next two clips come from bouts set for only two rounds, so I wonder if that encouraged the fighters to be more aggressive. That was certainly the case with Ryo Araki, who threw a punch that landed with such impact it sent his opponent and the referee flying.

Not satisfied with that shockwave, Araki followed with sledgehammer ground-and-pound before locking in a tight choke.

Lastly, tip of the cap to Rukiya Mukai and Shunsuke Kubota, who both executed the best gameplan in MMA: Throw until somebody falls.

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.

Chael Sonnen likes Alex Pereira’s chances against Tom Aspinall.

Light heavyweight champion Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) notched his third title defense when he brutally took out Khalil Rountree in Round 4 of their UFC 307 headliner in Salt Lake City.

Pereira said he plans on staying put at 205 pounds for the time being, but would like to move up to heavyweight someday. “Poatan” posted an image of interim heavyweight champion Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) watching him on, which has Sonnen salivating at the idea of a potential matchup between the two.

Although Aspinall’s grappling is expected to pose problems for Pereira, Sonnen isn’t sure if he’d succeed in getting to the necessary positions to take him down.

“I cannot guarantee you that the younger, bigger guy in Tom would win,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “There’s just something special about Alex, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. But I don’t know that Tom has the skills to just go out and take him down, so we might have to take that off of the board.

“I think Alex would have a really hard time getting up because of the size, but to get him there, Tom’s probably going to want to trade, probably have a little bit of ego like everybody else of, ‘Let me show all of you,’ and it might work out for him. But, it just might be a very dangerous proposition as well.”

Aspinall currently awaits the winner of the heavyweight title fight between champion Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic, which headlines UFC 309 on Nov. 16 in New York. But with Jones and a couple of his coaches hinting that “Bones” could be making the final walk at Madison Square Garden, Aspinall’s future is uncertain.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Kayla Harrison is taking the high road.

Just hours before she defeated Ketlen Vieira at UFC 307, her former employers at PFL posted a message on Twitter mocking Harrison’s one and only loss when she fell to Larissa Pacheco by decision back in 2022. The viral tweet got plenty of attention with Pacheco saying the move was “uncalled for” and UFC CEO Dana White laughing it off while adding “when you’re losing as much money as they are, f*cking go for it.”

For her part, Harrison saw the tweet but she refused to take the bait and engage in some kind of war of words with her former promoters.

“I operate from a place of gratitude, and I grew up in that organization,” Harrison told MMA Fighting. “I was able to financially provide for my family. I have financial abundance. I grew so much there. I’m grateful for what I believe I helped build over there. I feel like I was a big part of that, and I take pride in that.

“But I just don’t have time for that kind of negativity and those digs. I don’t care. I’m staying in my lane. I’m doing my thing. I’m chasing my dreams. If anybody has a problem with that, I’ve said it very clearly before — they can go f*ck themselves. I don’t have anything to say. You want to talk shit about me losing a fight? Go ahead.”

Since leaving PFL in free agency and signing with UFC, Harrison has largely avoided taking shots at the organization she called home for the first 17 fights of her career.

Meanwhile, PFL co-founder Donn Davis has continually claimed Harrison left the organization because she was running away from potential fights against Pacheco and Cris Cyborg — despite the fact that Harrison actually holds two wins over Pacheco from previous encounters.

Regardless, Harrison won’t suddenly start bashing PFL just because the promotion has decided to use her name in an attempt to promote an upcoming fight between Pacheco and Cyborg on Oct. 19.

“That’s why I don’t have to say anything,” Harrison explained. “Because those choices speak for themselves. I’m not going to go low. I’m not going to talk shit. I’m not going to say a bunch of stuff that I could say and air a bunch [of dirty laundry]. I’m not going to do that because there’s no point.

“That’s not who I am as a person. That’s not the kind of business that I want to do. That’s not what I want to be known for. So I’ll just keep my head down, work hard, you want to talk shit about me? Go ahead. I helped build that company.”

As far as her decision to change promotions, Harrison is confident now more than ever she made the right choice.

“I have no doubts,” Harrison said. “I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”

LAS VEGAS – Rafa Garcia has no intention of folding to the relentless grappling pressure of Grant Dawson at UFC Fight Night 244 – even if he is coming off a significant knee surgery.

Garcia (16-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) will return to the octagon for the first time since April 2023 on Saturday when he meets Dawson (21-2-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC) in a lightweight bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas (ESPN+). “Gifted” underwent surgery in July 2023 for a torn ACL and PCL, and has been working hard toward his comeback ever since.

“For me, (the recovery) was a little bit difficult,” Garcia told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s media day. “Putting the brakes on me was a little bit hard. Being in bed until 12 every day, that’s not something I do. I usually wake up in the morning at 5 a.m., go walk around, feed the animals and do something. When I was in bed, I was like, ‘Damn, I can’t do nothing.’”

Garcia was eventually able to return to his feet in a full-functioning manner and get back into training. The next step was accepting a fight, and he did that against Dawson, who has lost just once in 11 octagon appearances.

Dawson is a tenacious wrestler who has landed at least one takedown in all but one of his UFC fights, so Garcia knows what he’s getting this weekend. He is ready to thwart takedowns with the help of his surgically repaired knee, and then he’ll be looking to get the stoppage win.

“I feel like it’s a great opponent for me,” Garcia said. “Grant Dawson is knocking at the top 15. I think he’s going to try to take me down and walk back. But I’m not taking a step back. I’m getting in his face, making him back up, and I’m getting that finish.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 244.

Founded in 1941, Lancing are playing at the highest level in their history at non-league step four.

They have four points from their first eight games and sit 20th in the league in the relegation zone.

Three Bridges were unable to host this weekend’s match on Sunday because of a women’s FA Cup match being played at their temporary Bauvill Stadium in Chatham, Kent.

Former Brighton youth player Robinson, who has 13 Bermuda caps, joined Lancing from Whitehawk in the summer.

Winger Scott is playing in his second season for the club, having moved from Hastings in 2023.

“Knory is a lovely lad – quiet. You couldn’t hope to meet a nicer guy,” Sutton said.

“Luke has been around a lot of clubs at a higher level.

“To have international players is something we’re enormously proud of.

“We’ve got a Bermuda flag which we hang up behind one of the goals each home game.”