Hoo, boy.
We’ve got some scorchers for this week. If you were in need of oddball fight content or simply elements that exist on the periphery of MMA, you’re really gonna get your beak wet this week.
Starting things off is our pal Jerry at Fight Commentary Breakdowns. This week, a Wing Chun representative takes on two Sanda kickboxers. The gentleman allegedly has decades of training in the art, and has taken it upon himself to take on two different individuals to test his ability.
Friends, it does not go great.
Mild spoiler: he doesn’t get viciously knocked out or anything. But this is one of the most inadequate set of pairings you’ll see this year. The Wing Chun master is very contact-averse and bites on almost every feint, barely lands any sort of attack, and waves his hands around like a child imitating the Scooby-Doo run with the getaway bongos playing.
See for yourself:
To say that he’s incredibly ill-equipped is a massive understatement. Nobody is helped by this. No improvement is gained. It’s a sad old man not understanding that what he’s doing is not adapted to the modern realities of hand-to-hand combat and he’s falling by the wayside here.
But here’s the kicker: he’s been doing this for some time and will most likely continue to do so as time goes on. It’s almost inevitable for him to run into the same kind of brick wall that the no-touch masters have been running into at full speed. Let’s hope he has some sort of awakening before that happens.
Next up we’re back in Nigeria with fresh Dambe Warriors action, and this is a two for one deal. First bout is tense but has some wild flurries with the combatants engaging in some intense exchanges, but it’s the second bout that really delivers as one of the competitors ends up out on his feet:
Remember Zuluzinho? The Brazilian behemoth and son of Vale Tudo pioneer Rei Zulu? He’s doing slapboxing matches now, and it seems to be going… OK for him? But as a big dude, they’re not letting him in these events unless it’s against another big dude. That leads to some shocking exchanges. Here it goes well until it doesn’t, which is spoiler-ish, but this whole video is worth your time in its entirety from the most recent Punch Down event in Poland:
Wake up and smell the grappling, it’s time for some wrestling out in the open. These two guys go hard and the finish is rather satisfying:
there’s also this bout from STRELKA, another David vs Goliath bout that has a really exciting payoff. Simple stuff, but it felt great to watch:
DEFEND FC continues delivering with outdoor open-space MMA, and this week we’ll take a look at these two bouts with some fun back and forth action:
Personally, I’m not a big fan of the naming conventions for this. Street fighter or not, the Chechen fighter is quite capable and both individuals clearly have MMA training. But it appears that the styles clash angle is what they’re going for, and it’s ultimately fine. The fights are good, and they seem fair enough.
Next we’ve got another bout featuring a chunky Chechen BJJ rep and a Ghanaian Muay Thai specialist. Again, these aren’t your typical backyard fights, they’re pretty good at what they’re doing for being non-pros just duking it out in a field.
The Judo Grand Slam from Baku was a few days ago, and here’s some outstanding highlights from the event:
Finally, we’ve got some Muay Thai knockout highlights. It’s something that doesn’t get quite enough love, but we’re always glad to share. Enjoy.
And part 2:
That’s it for this week, kids. Get your flu shots, it’s the season. And remember – you might think you can fight, but there are many guys like you all over the world.
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