Missed Fists: Chelsea Hackett’s foot sweep leads to nasty knockout, more

Chelsea Hackett trips up Nicole Szepesvary at Eternal MMA 49 in Queensland, Australia, on Nov. 1 | UFC Fight Pass

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.

This week, we’re visiting scenic Queensland, Australia, where one fighter picked up the first finish of her young career and it’s one that she can truly be proud of (for the most part).

Chelsea Hackett vs. Nicole Szepesvary

AL: At Eternal MMA 49 (available on UFC Fight Pass), we had ourselves an old-fashioned striker vs. grappler matchup as Muay Thai champion Chelsea Hackett took on Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter Nicole Szepesvary. This being MMA, of course Hackett spent much of the first round willingly diving into Szepesvary’s guard and nearly getting submitted a couple of times for her troubles.

Then just seconds into round two, this happened:

JM: Is this a sweep?

AL: It looks like a sweep, but it also looks like Szepesvary was pulling guard or possibly throwing up a submission attempt as a counter?

JM: I get that she goes for the sweep, but honestly the way Szepesvary’s body moves, it kinda looks like she was going for a flying armbar and just… whiffed entirely. Either way, good heavens is that a bad look. Maybe sit the next couple of fights out.

AL: Either way, Hackett is now 2-0 and at 21 years old, is certainly one to watch. It could be a while before she has a more memorable KO than this one though.

Wally Herndon vs. Shawn Briggs
Dustin Lampros vs. Lloyd Thornton

AL: Remember Wally Herndon? We’ve featured him in these parts before and he’s kind of hard to miss given that he’s a near 7-footer who competes at 155 pounds.

Surprise! He was involved in some wackiness in his most recent appearance for Shamrock FC and we’re not just talking about him letting an opponent who looked to be half his size suplex him.

No, we’re talking about this:

JM: Wow. Gonna be one of those weeks, huh?

I seriously have no idea what actually happened here. It doesn’t look to me like Herndon was doing a small joint lock, it looked like he was trying to lock up an almost inverted chicken wing. I’m just so confused.

The only thing I do know for certain is that I never want to watch Herndon fight again because every time he does, I am 100 percent confident his bones are going to snap in a horrific way that haunts my dreams.

AL: He just picked up the second win of his eight-fight amateur career, so there ain’t no stopping him now!

Alright, enough with the freaky finishes, let’s take a look at a fighter who knew exactly what he was doing and he executed his game plan to perfection. Take it away, Dustin Lampros.

JM: Now this is something I want to see, excellent fight IQ! Lampros runs a very excellent front headlock series here, alternating between the choke and knees until one of them opens up and he gets the finish. Bravo!

AL: No reaching down and gaming the system for you, buddy. Now 5-0 at age 25, Lampros is ready for a step up in competition after finishing his first set of overmatched opponents. Let’s see what Shamrock FC lines up for him next. For now, you can check out their latest show on FITE TV PPV.

Florin Pirtea vs. Marcel Caraion

Before we move out of the MMA minors, let’s give a shout-out to Real Xtreme Fighting’s Florin Pirtea, who unleashed the beast against Marcel Caraion at a show in Bucharest, Romania.

We’re calling this “Wild Ferret Style” and it is undeniably effective. Pirtea even kind of pets him on the head after, which is cute.

Rashid Yusupov vs. Vinny Magalhaes

Welp, the annual Vinny Magalhaes big show flameout happened earlier than usual this year.

Last year, Magalhaes, one of the most skilled and exciting grapplers in MMA history, trucked through the PFL’s inaugural regular season and playoffs to make it to the finals against Sean O’Connell. With respect to O’Connell, on paper Magalhaes should defeat him nine times out of 10. Naturally, as he did on The Ultimate Fighter and in the World Series of Fighting, Magalhes came within reach of a grand prize only to stumble at the finish line in spectacular fashion.

This year, he didn’t even make it that far, getting knocked out of the 2019 PFL quarterfinals by Rashid Yusupov.

JM: Can’t completely crap the bed in the biggest moment if you never get to the big stage in the first place (Guy tapping his head knowingly meme). Smart.

AL: And now, on to the more civilized world of kickboxing.

Alexandr Zakharov vs. Zakaria Laauatni

JM: First off, full marks to Zakaria Laauatni’s corner. That was the exact right time to throw in the towel and credit to them for doing their job.

Secondly, have you ever seriously thought about boxing/kickboxing? Like, just imagine a world where our current social climate is exactly the same as right now, only combat sports never existed. And let’s say in this world I had the bright idea to invent boxing. And then I was like, what we’ll do is, when a fighter gets knocked down, they get 10 seconds to stand back up and keep fighting, just so long as they can stand. Everyone would look and me and go “Okay, we need to stop being friends with Jed now because he’s a sadist.”

I guess the point I’m trying to make is, the 10-count rule is pretty dumb and exceedingly dangerous and I feel like maybe we don’t recognize that enough.

AL: Preach.

This clip is a rough one, because you can see from the first second that Alexandr Zakharov is putting it on Laauatni and all that’s left is waiting for the finishing blow to come.

Mohammed Boutasaa vs. Ilias Zouggary

JM: Oof. That looked unfortunate. And unfortunately for Boutasaa and Zakharov, those weren’t even the best head kick KO of the week. They got beat by a friggin’ wrestler – shouts to Kevin Lee.

AL: What an organic segue into my interview with Gregor Gillespie, in which he talks about just how perfect Lee’s kick was.

Canelo Alvarez vs. Sergey Kovalev

AL: Lastly, let’s give MMA’s kid brother boxing some shine, especially since one of its bright young prospects was competing this weekend, a (checks notes) Mr. Canelo Alvarez.

That’s a nice KO, and if this Canelo character sticks with it, he could really make a mark on combat sports someday. Heck, he could even try his hand at cagefighting. Newly crowned “BMF” champion Jorge Masvidal—the owner of a title far more illustrious than anything Canelo has won, I’m sure—actually called out Canelo after disposing of Nate Diaz in undeniably conclusive fashion on Saturday, which was surprising given Canelo’s lack of MMA experience.

Let’s get this kid into a jiu-jitsu gym, see if he can handle the bright lights, and then maybe Dana White will consider throwing him into a fight night main event opposite Masvidal at some point.

JM: I’d like to keep this brief.

First off, Canelo is awesome and still so young and it feels like maybe we might all be underestimating how good he is just because he lost to GGG that one time (there is no sane argument Canelo won the first one, don’t @ me). Dude may well end up being thought of as the best of this generation.

So having said that, let me say as clearly as possible that Masvidal calling out Canelo for a boxing match is not a BMF move; in fact, it’s the opposite. It’s a shameless cash grab and one he’s smart enough to know he would stand no chance in. Him co-opting Conor’s insane “MMA movement” line is just wretched.

AL: Counter-point: Let’s do this s*it.

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 – @JedKMeshew and @AlexanderKLee – using the hashtag #MissedFists.