Tag: knockout of the day

Knockout of the Morning: In Malaysia, Glove-Tapping is a Sign of Disrespect Punishable by Death

(Props to the UG for the find. Skip to the 1 minute mark for the start of the action.) 

Over the years, we’ve seen all kinds of reactions to the somewhat customary yet completely optional touch of gloves at the beginning of an MMA fight. Manny Gamburyan used the opportunity to kick Jeff Cox in the chest at Fight Night 13 back in 2008, and although he won that fight, “The Anvil” was punished by the karma gods with two straight losses and a pink slip shortly thereafter. Convicted heroin smuggler Paul Kelly attempted a similarly dirty move against Donald Cerrone at UFC 126, then tried acting like he didn’t mean to after he was choked out some seven minutes later. And don’t even get us started on JR Fuller, the patron saint of fake glove-tappers.

Then there are guys like Firuz Karomatov, a Malaysian fighter who, according to his Sherdog profile, stands at 0’0″ and fights at N/Aweight. Karomatov made his professional MMA debut at MFC 6 a couple weeks back, and as is often the case with severely undersized people, he clearly had a chip on his shoulder heading into the fight. And when his opponent, Muhammad Hakim biz Azmi, held his glove out to perform the classic “At Arm’s Length” prank? You better believe that Firuz responded by kicking his bully opponent in the head and blitzkrieging the disrespectful bastard until he lay unconscious on the mat some 15 seconds later.

To be fair, you could make the argument that biz Azmi was not taunting Firuz and was simply trying to be a good sport, but what fun is that? JUSTICE: SERVED.

–J. Jones


(Props to the UG for the find. Skip to the 1 minute mark for the start of the action.) 

Over the years, we’ve seen all kinds of reactions to the somewhat customary yet completely optional touch of gloves at the beginning of an MMA fight. Manny Gamburyan used the opportunity to kick Jeff Cox in the chest at Fight Night 13 back in 2008, and although he won that fight, “The Anvil” was punished by the karma gods with two straight losses and a pink slip shortly thereafter. Convicted heroin smuggler Paul Kelly attempted a similarly dirty move against Donald Cerrone at UFC 126, then tried acting like he didn’t mean to after he was choked out some seven minutes later. And don’t even get us started on JR Fuller, the patron saint of fake glove-tappers.

Then there are guys like Firuz Karomatov, a Malaysian fighter who, according to his Sherdog profile, stands at 0’0″ and fights at N/Aweight. Karomatov made his professional MMA debut at MFC 6 a couple weeks back, and as is often the case with severely undersized people, he clearly had a chip on his shoulder heading into the fight. And when his opponent, Muhammad Hakim biz Azmi, held his glove out to perform the classic “At Arm’s Length” prank? You better believe that Firuz responded by kicking his bully opponent in the head and blitzkrieging the disrespectful bastard until he lay unconscious on the mat some 15 seconds later.

To be fair, you could make the argument that biz Azmi was not taunting Firuz and was simply trying to be a good sport, but what fun is that? JUSTICE: SERVED.

–J. Jones

Knockout of the Day: When Keeping it Real Having the Name Anderson Silva Goes Wrong

(Props to UG member KickYoNuts for the find.)

Picture this: You’re a young, wannabe rock star who just so happens to be named Eddie Van Halen. Even worse, you just so happen to LOVE playing heavy metal guitar, and truly believe that all the comparisons to the man himself and requests to play “Eruption” ad nauseam will be worth it when you finally step on stage to accept your Grammy.

So you find yourself a decent crew of bandmates, practice your ass off, and finally convince yourself that you are ready for a shot at the big time. Before you know it, you find yourself opening for Alice Cooper at the Wacken Open Air festival in front of an endless sea of eager spectators. You only get one song to blow the collective minds of the masses and it’s an easy choice: a cover of Pantera’s “Cowboys From Hell.”

You step onto the stage and unleash a whammy bar dive that channels the spirit of the almighty Dimebag Darrell himself, but just as you are about to bellow “Awwwwww COME ON!”, an ill-timed current surges through your microphone and knocks you unconscious. You release your bowels all over your brand new Gibson Les Paul Standard, and even worse, a video of the incident becomes a viral sensation within hours, forever shaming you to a lifetime spent reminiscing about the night you played a spot-on rendition of “Eruption” with your large intestine.

This is the MMA equivalent of that.

–J. Jones


(Props to UG member KickYoNuts for the find.)

Picture this: You’re a young, wannabe rock star who just so happens to be named Eddie Van Halen. Even worse, you just so happen to LOVE playing heavy metal guitar, and truly believe that all the comparisons to the man himself and requests to play “Eruption” ad nauseam will be worth it when you finally step on stage to accept your Grammy.

So you find yourself a decent crew of bandmates, practice your ass off, and finally convince yourself that you are ready for a shot at the big time. Before you know it, you find yourself opening for Alice Cooper at the Wacken Open Air festival in front of an endless sea of eager spectators. You only get one song to blow the collective minds of the masses and it’s an easy choice: a cover of Pantera’s “Cowboys From Hell.”

You step onto the stage and unleash a whammy bar dive that channels the spirit of the almighty Dimebag Darrell himself, but just as you are about to bellow “Awwwwww COME ON!”, an ill-timed current surges through your microphone and knocks you unconscious. You release your bowels all over your brand new Gibson Les Paul Standard, and even worse, a video of the incident becomes a viral sensation within hours, forever shaming you to a lifetime spent reminiscing about the night you played a spot-on rendition of “Eruption” with your large intestine.

This is the MMA equivalent of that.

–J. Jones

CagePotato PSA: Please Stop Daring Your Opponents to Knock You Out, Bush League MMA Fighters of the World

(All praises be to MiddleEasy for the find.) 

Alright, you guys, this is the last time we’re going to explain this.

We understand that six months of sprawl training can fill you with a previously unimaginable sense of self-confidence. Hell, throw in a couple BJJ lessons and a month or so of P90X and most of us would probably feel damn near invincible. It’s understandable to a degree, for we are a fragile-minded species that are easily influenced and oft corrupted by our own power, no matter how fleeting it may be.

But as fragile as our minds truly are, our bodies usually pale in comparison (*cough* Kevin Ware *cough*). And in the MMA game, taking one’s body for granted is a surefire way to wind up on the wrong end of a knockout — an embarrassing moment made all the more embarrassing when it comes just moments after you dare your opponent to test your otherworldly chin strength. Just ask our winner for the Biggest MMA Fail of 2012 or the Diaz wannabe who got front-kicked into never-neverland what showboating leads to. Hint: It’s pain. Only pain.


(All praises be to MiddleEasy for the find.) 

Alright, you guys, this is the last time we’re going to explain this.

We understand that six months of sprawl training can fill you with a previously unimaginable sense of self-confidence. Hell, throw in a couple BJJ lessons and a month or so of P90X and most of us would probably feel damn near invincible. It’s understandable to a degree, for we are a fragile-minded species that are easily influenced and oft corrupted by our own power, no matter how fleeting it may be.

But as fragile as our minds truly are, our bodies usually pale in comparison (*cough* Kevin Ware *cough*). And in the MMA game, taking one’s body for granted is a surefire way to wind up on the wrong end of a knockout — an embarrassing moment made all the more embarrassing when it comes just moments after you dare your opponent to test your otherworldly chin strength. Just ask our winner for the Biggest MMA Fail of 2012 or the Diaz wannabe who got front-kicked into never-neverland what showboating leads to. Hint: It’s pain. Only pain.

As you can tell by his pathetic attempts to perform what we in the MMA world call a “kick,” the jackwagon featured above clearly falls into the category of “Six Month Sprawl Superstar.” And while it’s fitting that this guy would be so confident in his chin that he would charge face first into a punch with his hands down, the humor we can take away from his misfortune only masks the bigger picture: reckless endangerment.

The simple fact is that one of these crazy bastards are going to get themselves killed while attempting to show off during a fight, and when one of them inevitably does, our beloved sport will once again be put the ringer as a result. It’s pretty selfish, honestly, but who am I kidding? I’m talking to the guy who is so self-centered that he laughs at the notion of a mere mortal somehow possessing the strength to knock him out.

Look, we know it looks cool/intimidating when Nick Diaz effortlessly absorbs his opponents best shots whilst throwing Stockton Heybuddies all the while, but none of you are Nick Diaz. If you were, you would certainly be too caught up in some good old fashioned nunchucking to own a computer and therefore read this plea.

You want to show off how much of a badass you are? Try finishing your opponent then celebrating. There’s a much smaller window for failure there. In the meantime, we beg you impressionable MMA fighters out there to please spend a little less time thinking you’re God and a little more keeping your hands up. For our sake and yours.

–J. Jones

[VIDEO] And Now, Your Double Knockout of the Day…

(Scroll ahead to the 4-minute mark for the action. Props to MiddleEasy for the find.) 

Back in 2008, double knockouts were all the rage in the MMA world, the way sucker punch knockouts are blowing up on the hipster-music-and-film-festival scene nowadays. And like those skinny jean-wearing, liberal-arts majoring leaders of tomorrow, it appears that MMA fighters enjoy bringing back “retro” trends years before they can be declared “retro” as well.

Just last week, we were treated to a beautifully timed double knockout at Galaxy Fight Night IV, and over the weekend, the trend continued when Jay Jackson and Owen Martin collided at Steel City MMA. Interestingly enough, the craziest thing about this double KO was the fact that both men didn’t crash to the canvas at the same time despite landing simultaneous punches. Instead, Martin drops like a sack of potatoes while Jackson opts to stanky leg for a few seconds before falling face first into Martin in an attempt to finish him off.

The ref quickly pulls Jackson off and eventually awards him the TKO victory (by virtue of him staying on his feet longer, we guess), but not before Jackson stumbles around the ring like a college freshman at his first kegger and faceplants a final time.

Although we usually prefer to save our matchmaking abilities for the upper-level cards, if we had to pick an opponent to match Jackson up with next, we’d go with the guy who got choked out in the first round before scoring a TKO in the second. Weight classes be damned; this fight will come as close to a scene out of The Walking Dead as we will ever get in MMA, and I am willing to risk as many lives as necessary to see that scenario play out.

–J. Jones


(Scroll ahead to the 4-minute mark for the action. Props to MiddleEasy for the find.) 

Back in 2008, double knockouts were all the rage in the MMA world, the way sucker punch knockouts are blowing up on the hipster-music-and-film-festival scene nowadays. And like those skinny jean-wearing, liberal-arts majoring leaders of tomorrow, it appears that MMA fighters enjoy bringing back “retro” trends years before they can be declared “retro” as well.

Just last week, we were treated to a beautifully timed double knockout at Galaxy Fight Night IV, and over the weekend, the trend continued when Jay Jackson and Owen Martin collided at Steel City MMA. Interestingly enough, the craziest thing about this double KO was the fact that both men didn’t crash to the canvas at the same time despite landing simultaneous punches. Instead, Martin drops like a sack of potatoes while Jackson opts to stanky leg for a few seconds before falling face first into Martin in an attempt to finish him off.

The ref quickly pulls Jackson off and eventually awards him the TKO victory (by virtue of him staying on his feet longer, we guess), but not before Jackson stumbles around the ring like a college freshman at his first kegger and faceplants a final time.

Although we usually prefer to save our matchmaking abilities for the upper-level cards, if we had to pick an opponent to match Jackson up with next, we’d go with the guy who got choked out in the first round before scoring a TKO in the second. Weight classes be damned; this fight will come as close to a scene out of The Walking Dead as we will ever get in MMA, and I am willing to risk as many lives as necessary to see that scenario play out.

–J. Jones

Knockout of the Day: Scott Noble Sleeps Francis Grant via Flying Head Kick at Operation Octagon VIII

Whew, does anyone else need a break from all this Nick Diaz/GSP/UFC 158 hype for a moment? I mean, I could listen to those two hurl insults at each other in broken English all day, but every now and again, I just want to see someone get knocked the fudge out, you know?

Thankfully, a video has recently been released of the battle between 3-0 KO artist Scott Noble and the debuting Francis Grant, which went down on December 1st of last year at Operation Octagon VIII in Virginia. And when I say “battle,” I mean a lone flying head kick that had Grant singing the Sleepsong just five seconds into the fight.

Look at it this way, Francis; your professional debut could have gone worse, I guess. You could have died.

–J. Jones

Whew, does anyone else need a break from all this Nick Diaz/GSP/UFC 158 hype for a moment? I mean, I could listen to those two hurl insults at each other in broken English all day, but every now and again, I just want to see someone get knocked the fudge out, you know?

Thankfully, a video has recently been released of the battle between 3-0 KO artist Scott Noble and the debuting Francis Grant, which went down on December 1st of last year at Operation Octagon VIII in Virginia. And when I say “battle,” I mean a lone flying head kick that had Grant singing the Sleepsong just five seconds into the fight.

Look at it this way, Francis; your professional debut could have gone worse, I guess. You could have died.

–J. Jones

Knockout of the Day: Vaughn Govia Sends Miguel Saenz Into a Tailspin via One Brutal Face Kick

Major props to our buddies over at MiddleEasy for passing along today’s entry in the Uriah Hall “Did He Died?” Head Kick Hall of Fame, which comes courtesy of last Friday’s STFC: Bad Blood event. In a lightweight contest pitting Vaughn Govia (dubbed Vaughn Goby in the above video) against Miguel “Mikey” Saenz, Govia decides after a few seconds of fight time that a switch from traditional to southpaw stance is in order. Saenz takes note of this and likewise decides that the best way to counter the switch is with a lazy jab. He is mistaken.

Govia responds by firing off a head kick that sends Saenz crashing to the canvas in what we shall now refer to as King slow-Mo, and just like that, another fantastic knockout in what has been a year already chock-full of them is born. Now someone go find a spatula to peel Saenz off the canvas.

–J. Jones

Major props to our buddies over at MiddleEasy for passing along today’s entry in the Uriah Hall “Did He Died?” Head Kick Hall of Fame, which comes courtesy of last Friday’s STFC: Bad Blood event. In a lightweight contest pitting Vaughn Govia (dubbed Vaughn Goby in the above video) against Miguel “Mikey” Saenz, Govia decides after a few seconds of fight time that a switch from traditional to southpaw stance is in order. Saenz takes note of this and likewise decides that the best way to counter the switch is with a lazy jab. He is mistaken.

Govia responds by firing off a head kick that sends Saenz crashing to the canvas in what we shall now refer to as King slow-Mo, and just like that, another fantastic knockout in what has been a year already chock-full of them is born. Now someone go find a spatula to peel Saenz off the canvas.

–J. Jones