Missed Fists: Phone booth fighter knocked out in seconds after chaotic flurry

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.

I know plenty of you have been missing your phone-booth fighting fix, so you can thank Czech Republic’s RedFace promotion for answering the call (ha!) this week.

(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.)

Anyone who has followed the phone booth fighting scene from the beginning (shout-out to the originators, Fight Circus!) knows that it has gone through plenty of iteration and innovation over the past few years, most of it for the better. When we first saw this bold experiment in combat sports technology, it played out about as you’d expect, with the competitors having waaaaaaaayyyy too little space to execute any techniques effectively. Fun for what it was, but clearly a work in progress.

So again, we iterate.

Did RedFace find the perfect balance between appropriately cramped quarters and actual fight space? You be the judge, but seeing someone actually get thoroughly knocked out in there is quite impressive.

Still, it has to be asked, is this the ideal form of phone-booth fighting? Or are we just looking at a really small cage now?

It’s also worth noting that these scraps took place during the weigh-ins for an event to take place the following day, which is something the UFC should seriously consider.

Watch the entire event and more from RedFace on YouTube.

Caleb Mullin vs. Frank Hyslop

As goofy as that was, you could argue that this knockout from an Almighty Fighting Championship show in Deeside, Wales, is even goofier.

You hear coaches all the time tell fighters not to linger in front of a downed opponent. You know, because of upkicks. You can dive into guard, back up and let the opponent stand, or get low and posture up to throw strikes, but if you’re going to do the latter you’ve got to clear the legs.

Frank Hyslop hovered over Caleb Mullin forever and paid the absolute price.

Andile Madlala vs. Tico Van Den Berg

On Thursday, Andile Madlala wowed the crowd at EFC 116 in Sandton, South Africa, with this 19-second, one-punch walloping of Tico Van Den Berg.

Madlala patiently waited for the perfect shot and boy did he find it, connecting with a counter left off of a whiffed Superman punch. Van Den Berg immediately turned to jelly and Madlala got to enjoy a walkoff KO.

Marsel Nurlanbek vs. Farkhod Ergishbaev

You may have heard of Mr. Marsel Nurlanbek before.

Flashback to September 2023, Nurlanbek wins via kneebar in just nine seconds and calls for Dana White to sign him.

Back in the present, Nurlanbek scores another Round 1 kneebar and one can only assume is still waiting for Dana White to sign him.

There’s no question that Nurlanbek is fun as hell to watch, but there’s reason to be skeptical of his glossy 14-0 record thus far. When we first featured Nurlanbek, he was 11-0 and yet to fight anyone with a record better than 3-1.

That hasn’t changed and hey, take a wild guess as to the record of his opponent this time around? Yup, 3-1.

If you want to judge Nurlanbek’s skills for yourself, check out the full match above. You can also watch a replay of Octagon League 61 for free on YouTube.

Juan Camilo Caicedo vs. Erickson Quinzo

A lot of amazing finishes went down on UFC Fight Pass this past weekend, so let’s start with Juan Camilo Caicedo straight bludgeoning Erickson Quinzo at Budo Sento Championship 24 in Mexico City.

Caicedo is no world beater at just 3-3 to start his career, but he landed that left hand with so much sauce on it that he probably could have rocked Max Holloway. Wave goodbye to that mouthpiece, too.

Cody Anderson vs. Samuel Chaidez
Kevin Rosas vs. Ricky Romo
Pena Allamov vs. Tracy Reeder
Christy Tyquiengco vs. Amber Terrell
Tyler Stout vs. Aaron Peterson
Cam Teague vs. Austin Lingo

As it so often does, Fury FC lived up to its name at its most recent show in Dallas, bringing it with big finishes from top to bottom.

Amateur featherweight Cody Anderson stole the show in his debut, throwing just two strikes to beat Samuel Chaidez in seven seconds.

Makes sense when one of those strikes is an on-the-money head kick. Really, I’m impressed by how much celebrating Anderson fit in after. He roars, he flexes, he mimes a throat cut, hits the “go to sleep” taunt, and then immediately springs back up to his feet. This guy maximized his cage time!

You’ve heard of 19-year-old Raul Rosas Jr., but may I interest you in a bottle of 22-year-old Kevin Rosas?

Rosas, the old man of the Rosas brothers, finished his work in 22 seconds appropriately enough, jamming an elbow into Ricky Romo’s head amid a furious rush of ground-and-pound. Even better, middle brother Jessie Rosas (21) was also victorious, winning a unanimous decision over Kaleb Petereit one fight before Kevin.

We have two new entries for the “I Want You to Want Me, I Kneed You to Kneed Me” department, with Pena Allamov and Christy Tyquiengco both demonstrating the value of a well-timed knee (or knees, in Tyquiengco’s case).

Allamov noticed Tracy Reeder kept dipping his head when defending, so he adjusted with a well-timed knee right into his chin. Tyquiengco simply imposed her will on Amber Terrell, jamming her with clinch knees until she had to quit.

Tyler Stout also showed how to expertly break down a defense with this slick body-head combination.

That straight right to the breadbasket looked like it had Aaron Peterson about to clutch at his midsection. Before he even had the chance to react to that, Stout followed with a left hand that flat-out destroyed him.

Lastly from Texas, featherweight Cam Teague improved to 7-0 with a gutsy TKO of UFC veteran Austin Lingo.

Once upon a time, Lingo was the hot prospect carving through his opponents in LFA and earning Missed Fists plaudits. Now, after an uneventful 2-3 run in the octagon, he’s back on the regional scene and he’s the nail, not the hammer. It’s MMA’s circle of life.

Micaias Urena vs. Ashiek Ajim

Speaking of LFA, Micaias Urena showed out at an event in Salamanca, N.Y., booping Ashiek Ajim in 11 seconds with a stiff right hand.

And let’s not bury the lede, “The Pink Ranger” is an outstanding nickname.

Neto Pinheiro vs. Lafaiete da Silva
Bruno Nascimento vs. Arthur Mota

JUDOOOOOO THROW!

That’s Neto Pinheiro ippon’ing all up in this sitch at a Shooto Brasil event in Rio de Janeiro. Pinheiro is the brother of top-15 strawweight Luana Pinheiro, and you can see that these two truly love tossing people around.

Not only did Pinheiro lock down the MMA Throw of the Year (a prestigious award, if there ever was one), he finished shortly after with a rear-naked choke to improve to 3-0, all by first-round finish.

Bruno Nascimento went all in to start the third round, firing out a right and then spinning to win with a kick to the body. Poor Arthur Mota was a punching bag from there as Nascimento followed up with a little bit of everything to snag the standing TKO.

A flying knee. A sharp elbow. Punches in bunches. Another knee. When you’ve become the training dummy in a combo video, it’s time for the referee to step in.

That’s it for this week, but in case you missed it, two of the best knockouts of the year took place outside of the MMA world. Check out our writeups of Taimu Hisai’s unbelievable rolling thunder knockout, and BKFC’s Josh Dyer face-planting his opponent in front of the one-and-only Conor McGregor.

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.