The Best Knockouts and Submissions of MMA's Black (and Blue) Friday Action

Steve Luciano/Associated Press

Fans of combat sports in the U.S. have been busy the past couple of days. Turkey on Thursday. Inordinate amounts of shopping on Friday.

Outside North America, though, the world kept a-turnin', and the result was a number of big, impressive stoppages in the international MMA circuit.

The biggest fight of the week outside the UFC was the One FC bout between Ben Askren and Shinya Aoki. The American successfully maintained his undefeated streak by scoring a first-round finish over his undersized foe, capitalizing on an ill-advised guard pull in under a minute:

It was an impressive showing by Askren but far from the most terrifying of the day. That honor went to Petchsanguan Chor.Chanasit in a kickboxing match at Muay Xtreme:

There weren't just big knockouts, though. Over in Russia at M-1's latest event, Challenge 86, 57-fight veteran Alexander Butenko destroyed Eler Narmurzaev's arm, taking the technical submission win at the end of the first round:

That was a brutal finish, but it wasn't the most stunning finish over in Russia. Rubenilton Pereira sent Lom-Ali Nalgiev face-first into the canvas with a picture-perfect right hand:

All of those are impressive, but one of the most unique finishes of the week came from UFC vet Chris Kelades. Facing Oleg Lichkovakha at M-1 Challenge 86, he used a modified triangle choke to set up a kimura to force the tap: 

While most of the world didn't get the big dinner or the bonkers savings on kitchen appliances, fight fans overseas got plenty of quality combat sports action to savor. Not a bad trade-off!