Fighter primer - Dagestan

Welcome to Leg Kick TKO, a MMA blog that's all kinds of hype for the strawweight season of TUF!

Typical Dagestani attire

Fighters come from all over the world, and if they end up being moderately non-terrible, they will probably end up fighting for a major American-based promotion. In recent years, fighters from the Russian republic of Dagestan have emerged as top fighters, generally with a strong sambo background. So now I'm going to run through some top-level Dagestani fighters, going from smallest to largest, even though that means I'll end up talking about the most notable guys right in the middle of this post.

UFC Flyweight - Ali "Puncher King" Bagautinov

Ali Bagautinov had a pretty good UFC debut, showcasing his nickname of "Puncher King" with a third round knockout, and followed that up with another impressive performance against Daniel Bryan/Mose Schrute-hybrid lookalike, Tim Elliott. He is unbeaten in three years and ten fights, with five TKO and two submission victories during that span.

Bellator Featherweight - Magomedrasul "Frodo" Khasbulaev

The Hobbit-named fighter has been putting on impressive performances in Bellator, showcasing the kind of grit and scrappiness only found in a halfling tasked with transporting the One Ring to Mount Doom (Facing Daniel Straus for the Featherweight title), as he's undefeated in the past three years and nine fights.

Check out more rad Dagestanis after the jump!

Technique Appreciation Station - German suplex

Welcome to Leg Kick TKO, a MMA blog that's never met an opponent it didn't try to duck.

Well lookie here, a new article category that I'm sure will be used once or twice and then forgotten or ignored! This time, instead of talking about dudes what do cool moves, I'm just going to focus on cool moves done by a bunch of different guys, because screw analysis, let's just look at GIFs!

There are a lot of different grappling arts at play in mixed martial arts, and since every fight starts standing (Wheelchair karate bouts notwithstanding), they all include various methods of getting an opponent to the ground. The cooler arts include throws, because the ancient masters knew that hucking some dorkus through the air and onto his face looked pretty sweet. Wrestling has some exceptional throws, which makes sense since it was devloped initially by thick-necked farmhands as a means of transporting livestock. The raddest of all wrestling throws is the suplex, and at the top of the suplex list is the German variant (Or belly to back if you want to be a lame pedant about things)

Soup-Flex, You Say? Do Go On!

First of all, this ain't no portmanteau, it's a dang suplex, so get it right, or pay the price. Second of all, fake dumb reader I constantly berate, I think we should watch a brief tutorial on how to properly suplex some jamoke out his (Or her!) shoes.

Now that proper suplexery has been explained to us, it's time to see the German in action for real. Check out a plethora of GIFs and videos after the jump because I don't want to explode anyone's browsers or however that works.

This Week in Dumb MMA Stuff

Welcome to Leg Kick TKO, a MMA blog that's less intense than Gegard Mousasi.

Fights - A whole lot of fights went down, so let's not waste any time and get right into the action.

SFL 13 - Super Fight League crowned a bunch of champions on Friday as it was their last show of the year.

Khan vs Eidehlouei

Jamshed Khan defeated Rouhollah Eidehlouei due to retirement at the end of round two.

Check out a ton more fights, plus pure craziness after the jump!

This Week in Dumb MMA Stuff

Welcome to Leg Kick TKO, a MMA blog that’s more erratic than Dominick Cruz.

Fights - There was a UFC PPV, Bellator, SFL (BOOM, POW, PUNCH, KICK, WOW!) and a random assortment of two people flailing their limbs at each other until one cannot take it any more (Wait, I already said Super Fight League).

TPF 15 - Tachi Palace Fights is a regional MMA organization that works as a half-decent feeder league to the UFC.

Clark vs Miranda

Gif by https://twitter.com/ZProphet_MMA

Dominick Clark knocked out Andy Miranda in just under two minutes in the first round.

Perez vs De Soto

Gif by https://twitter.com/ZProphet_MMA

Alex Perez took just two seconds longer than Clark to knockout Carlos De Soto with punches.

Check out many much more fights after the jump!

Rad Fights of Yesteryear - Emelianenko vs Randleman

Welcome to Leg Kick TKO, a MMA blog that’s dirtier than Gilbert Yvel.

It's time, once again, for Rad Fights of Yesteryear!  This is from the 2004 Pride Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals, as then-current Pride Heavyweight champion, Fedor "the Last Emperor" Emelianenko takes on Kevin "the Monster Randleman.

Who Are These Jerks?

Fedor “the Last Emperor” Emelianenko is a Sambo practitioner, and, at the time of this fight, was considered one of the best Heavyweights in the world, coming into the contest at 18-1.  Kevin “the Monster” Randleman is a wrestler and has the size of a Light Heavyweight, but achieved far more success at Heavyweight (Probably because the Heavyweights generally aren't as skilled), capturing the UFC's Heavyweight title in 1999.  He enters this bout at 15-7. 

What's So Special About This Dumb Fight?

There’s a very brief striking exchange that allows Randleman to get a body clinch.  Kevin lifts Fedor off the mat and takes him down, landing in half-guard.  Randleman lands a few punches before Emelianenko gives up his back and stands back to his feet.  What follows is the greatest German suplex in the entire history of throws.

Randleman, having leveled up twice after knocking out Mirko Filipovic in his last fight, and wanting to try out his new moves, launches Emelianenko off his feet and decides to leap into the air as well, smashing Fedor’s head and neck into the canvas.  Surprisingly, Fedor’s head doesn’t fly off into the fifth row, nor does his spine get pulverized into bone dust.  Instead, Emelianenko calmly sweeps Randleman, attains side control, punches Randleman in the head around twenty times, and then sinks a fight ending kimura.

Being all stoic and Russian, Emelianenko pretty much remains calm the entire fight, only smiling slightly after Randleman lifts him in the air post-fight.

What Did We Learn?

• Wrestling is pretty cool, but Sambo is kind of awesome
• German suplexes are most awesome
• Sambo teaches you to fall from great heights directly on your head to no ill effects
•  Seriously, how did Fedor not die from that?