Li Yixuan and Xu Wanying at a Jue Cheng King event in Shanxi, China, on Aug. 5, 2023 | @mmaecosystem, Twitter

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.

After a week or more of Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz chatter (there it is again!), I get it, you need a palette cleanser. You need a break from unnecessary analysis of D-grade boxing. You want your martial arts mixed. Truly, I get it.

With that in mind, let’s Missed Fists with one of the most mesmerizing submissions of the year.

(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.)

Li Yixuan vs. Xu Wanying

If there’s one thing I love about working on this feature it’s that I can go to the experts — that being you, the fans — for advice on what to name certain techniques. In this instance, I am befuddled by a submission I’ve never seen executed in this specific manner before, which took place at a Jue Cheng King event in Shanxi, China.

That’s 3-0 Li Yixuan with the creative finisher, which Sherdog lists as an “inverted guillotine choke.” That sounds fine to me, but is missing a certain pizzazz. Tapology went with “dragon sleeper crank,” which is more compelling, but also sounds almost too pro wrestling-y (can a dragon sleeper actually work in real life? I guess it just did?).

I prefer to think of this as the submission version of Michael Scott’s “improversation.” Li just started going to work on the ground, not knowing exactly where she is headed, and it developed into pure awesomeness.

A free replay of JCK Fight Night 66 is available here.

JC Lamprecht vs. Mzwandile Hlongwa

Mzwandile Hlongwa has scored some dynamite KOs in the past, which landed him a contract with Brave CF where he saw mixed results (including suffering his first pro loss to some dude named Khamzat Chimaev). In his return to Extreme Fighting Championship Worldwide this past weekend, he was poised to capture his first title with the promotion in a vacant light heavyweight championship clash against JC Lamprecht, but Lamprecht had other plans, to say the least.

As you can see from caposa’s cut of the fight, Hlongwa had Lamprecht in serious trouble on multiple occasions. Many refs would have stepped in and been perfectly justified in doing so, but Lamprecht apparently showed just enough signs of life to avoid the stoppage. It paid off too as he managed a trip on a tiring Hlongwa and then made the most of a bad situation as he snatched Hlongwa’s head to secure a guillotine choke.

Just an absurd comeback on multiple levels.

Adel Khaldoune vs. Georges N’Goma
Dean Garnett vs. Lucas Corbage

At Hexagone MMA 8 (replay available on DAZN), Adel Khaldoune gave us our first face-planting of the week with this sneaky-as-hell right hook that splattered Georges N’Goma.

In the main event, Dean Garnett (a longtime coach who includes Muhammad Mokaev in his list of charges) continued his comeback success as he scored his second win of 2023 following a five-year break from competition.

This savage KO earned Garnett a vacant featherweight belt. Not a bad haul for a guy who just turned 35 a couple of weeks ago.

Yure do Nascimento vs. Carlos Leandro da Silva

Over at Arena Global 26 in Rio de Janeiro, we saw another fighter left limp as Yure do Nascimento made Carlos Leandro da Silva pay for a lazy leg kick.

You can catch a free replay of that event on YouTube.

Karson Koe vs. Sam Dawson

If you want a proper example of how to hide a kick, look no further than Kason Koe’s wicked KO from FightStar Championship 25 in London.

The amateur featherweight gives the slightest hint of hand movement before bringing that kick around and punishing his opponent for guessing wrong. Game of inches.

See more highlights from FightStar Championship on their YouTube channel.

Tony Cortez vs. Matias Palma
Lucero Acosta vs. Silvia Juaneda

Tony Cortez scored a 32-second finish of Matias Palma at a Combate Global event in Miami, blasting him with a left elbow over the top that must have felt like getting smacked with a frying pan. But harder.

There’s been so many great standing elbow knockouts in 2023. Fighters should do that more.

In the main event, Lucero Acosta won her second straight fight with an airtight guillotine choke-out of Silvia Juaneda.

“La Loba” has fought just six times since turning pro in 2019, but Combate Global has pushed her as a star (this is her third show in a row as the main event) and if she can get more active, she has a good chance of living up to that hype.

Tony Laramie vs. Daniel Nunez
Amin Almelik vs. Victor Jauregui

Up here in Ontario, Canada, this past Saturday, BTC 21 took place and there were finishes aplenty. The two best came courtesy of 24-year-old flyweight prospect Tony Laramie (the younger brother of recent UFC fighter T.J. Laramie) and Amin Almelik.

Laramie showed crisp hands in the evening’s co-main event, while Almelik had poor Victor Jauregui actually dodging into a couple of strikes that ended his night on a rough note.

You can catch a pay-per-view replay of BTC 21 on their site.

Daniel Frunza vs. Jalin Fuller

Remember when I hinted at another face-planting? Boom, here it is!

Romania’s Daniel Frunzi has been doing damage in the regional scene and in his LFA debut against the more established Jalin Fuller (6-3 in the LFA cage before last Friday) he kept the good times rolling with this powerful first-round KO.

That’s a pair of right hands on the button and a closing flurry that had Fuller not-so-gently drifting to the mat.

LFA 164 is available for replay on UFC Fight Pass.

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.