From April 4, 2008 By Billy Hull
UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is in Hawaii this weekend and will be hanging out at the OTM Fight Shop on Saturday from 4-6 p.m. Jackson will be signing posters courtesy of Throwdown and the OTM Fight Shop. The shop is located at 1255 S. Beretania St.
Also, I just a call from Christine over at X-1 that many of their fighters will be at Center Stage in Windward Mall from 3-9 p.m. on Saturday sighting autographs and hanging out. X-1’s Legends card in May is scheduled to include Niko Vitale, Egan Inoue, Ray Cooper and more. Expect the entire card to be released some time in the next few days.
Posted in Fights 
Comments
From April 3, 2008 By Billy Hull
Quick results from last night’s UFC Ultimate Fight Night card on Spike TV from Colorado:
Kenny Florian def. Joe Lauzon by TKO (3:28 Round 2)
Thiago Alves def. Karo Parisyan by TKO (0:34 Round 2)
Matt Hamill def. Tim Boetsch by TKO (1:25 Round 2)
Nate Diaz def. Kurt Pellegrino by submission ( 3:06 Round 2, Triangle Choke)
James Irwin def. Houston Alexander by KO (0:08 Round 1)
Gray Maynard def. Frankie Edgar by UD
Josh Neer def. Din Thomas by UD
Marcus Aurelio def. Ryan Roberts by submission (0:16 Round 1, Armbar)
Manny Gamburyan def. Jeff Cox by submission (1:41 Round 1, Guillotine Choke)
Clay Guida def. Samy Schiavo by TKO (4:13 Round 1)
George Sotiropoulos def. Roman Mitichyan by TKO (2:24 Round 2)
Anthony Johnson def. Tommy Speer by KO (0:51 Round 1)
I saw a few of the fights and was very impressed with Anthony Johnson’s KO of Tommy Speer. Kid looked fast, strong and threw some serious punches with bad intentions. Remember his name in the future. Main event fight was a great first round. I thought Florian’s elbows were dirty and am of the opinion that if Brock Lesnar got deducted a point for hitting the back of the head against Frank Mir, Florian should have gotten the same penalty. I know BJ Penn wants to test the welterweight division again if he gets past Sean Sherk in May, but if that happens, I’d love to see him fight one more time at lightweight against Florian to avenge the loss suffered by Lauzon, BJ’s training partner.
Be sure to catch a replay of the Ultimate Fighter reality show if you missed it. Instead of having the normal 16 guys to start the show, they brought in 32 and had 16 fights with the winners getting to stay in the house. More fights make for better TV and you get the added bonus of hearing Rampage and Forrest comment on each fight as it happens. Good stuff.
Hawaii had one representative on the show, but Steve Byrnes, fighting out of Kailua, lost by armbar in the second round. He’s fought once for Icon and was 6-1 going in, but wasn’t ready physically for a 10-minute fight and got real tired in the second round which led to his demise. One of the better fights of the first show however.
Posted in Fights Comments
From April 1, 2008 By Billy Hull
Big Island boy Poai Suganuma is back in action for the first time in 2008 when he headlines the ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series card on Showtime Saturday night against undefeated Jared Hamman (9-0) of San Bernardino, Calif.
The 26-year-old Suganuma (8-1) has already fought in Pancrase and K-1 and has had a fight in both Icon Sport and HFC. His only loss came as a result of a cut and six of his eight wins have been by either TKO or submission. He has spent the last two years training in Hilo under BJ Penn after beginning his MMA career in Japan while working as a singer, ukulele player and English teacher.
I don’t know much about Hamman other than he hasn’t gone the distance in any of his nine fights. From what I’ve been told, there’s more than one or two people within EliteXC that think he’s a future star at 205 pounds. It’s a main event fight on Showtime and will be a great opportunity for Suganuma to notch a big win on the national stage.
For those in Hawaii interested in watching, the event begins on a tape delayed basis at 8:30 p.m. on Showtime.
If you can’t wait that long to satisfy your MMA appetite, the UFC returns to Spike TV Wednesday for UFC Fight Night Live at 4 p.m. In a main event featuring lightweights, Kenny Florian takes on Joe Lauzon in a fight that COULD earn the winner a lightweight title shot. Lauzon is another guy that spent time training for this fight in Hilo with BJ, who ironically enough, could be the guy Lauzon fights next if he wins. Of course, Penn has to get by Sean Sherk first in May which will be one of the biggest fights of 2008 hands down.
The three-hour event will be followed by the debut of the next season of the Ultimate Fighter reality show featuring coaches Forrest Griffin and light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
For anyone that’s ever talked to Jackson, he’s one of the all-time great quotes I’ve ever come across and Grffin isn’t one to shy away from the camera either. Taping for the show has already been done and while everything is supposed to stay a secret, I’ve heard there’s more than a share of run-ins between the two coaches.
The four fights in addition to Lauzon/Florian that will be televised are:
Houston Alexander (8-1) vs. James Irwin (13-4-1); Kurt Pellegrino (17-3) vs. Nate Diaz (8-2); Matt Hamill (5-1) vs. Tim Boetsch (7-1); Thiago Alves (18-4) vs. Karo Parisyan (25-4)
The main event is probably the fight I’m most amped for, but don’t forget about Parisyan. He would have had a welterweight title shot if it wasn’t for an injury and is known for producing some of the sickest throws you’ll see in a cage. His fights are always a treat to watch.
Posted in Fights Comments
From March 29, 2008 By Billy Hull
Former Big Island resident KJ Noons will headline the June 14th EliteXC event at the Blaisdell Arena when he defends his world lightweight title against Yves Edwards.
The fight was officially announced during tonight’s EliteXC/StrikeForce co-promoted event in San Jose, Calif. The Hawaii show will be broadcast on Showtime and also features the crowning of the promotion’s first welterweight champion as Drew Fickett and Jake Shields will fight for the title. That fight was supposed to take place tonight, but Shields suffered a back injury in training and had to pull out.
It’ll be the second show for EliteXC in Hawaii. Robbie Lawler knocked out Murilo “Ninja” Rua in the main event of the first one last September. EliteXC is the same organization that recently signed a deal with the CBS network. Saturday Night Fights will debut May 31 with Lawler defending his middleweight title against Scott Smith, a heavyweight fight featuring internet legend turned MMA superstar Kimbo Slice and Phil Baroni against Rua.
In a memorable main event last night on Showtime, Cung Le stopped Frank Shamrock in three rounds to become the new Strikeforce middleweight champion in front of a packed house at the HP Pavilion. The fight was billed as a battle for San Jose and is an early candidate for fight of the year as Shamrock stayed true to his word and engaged in a striking contest with a world renowned kickboxer in Le. Le controlled the first two rounds, but a series of hard right hands had Le in trouble near the end of round 3. After the bell rang, Shamrock slumped to his knees in his corner and couldn’t continue as one of Le’s powerful kicks broke Shamrock’s right arm.
Posted in Fights Comments
From March 25, 2008 By Billy Hull
In an interesting twist, I was able to confirm that Phil Baroni, who just lost to Kala Kolohe Hose at Icon Sport: To Hell and Back, will fight on the CBS EliteXC event May 31st against Murilo “Ninja” Rua. Rua hasn’t fought since being knocked out by Robbie Lawler at EliteXC: Uprising last September at the Blaisdell Arena.
What’s interesting to note about the Baroni fight is that Hose, who is also under contract to EliteXC, beat Baroni rather convincingly, but won’t be fighting on the card. For those of you that caught Monday’s Fighters Club Radio Show, Patrick Freitas and I discussed the question is MMA mainstream yet? What you have with the Baroni fight is that even though he sports a career 10-9 record, he has fought in all the big shows, is a name most fans know, and has entertainment value with his ability to talk trash prior to fights.
However, if MMA is really going to become a respected, understood, legit sport in the mainstream world, shouldn’t guys like Kala Kolohe Hose be rewarded for beating a guy like Phil Baroni? Yeah, he might not be the most outspoken fighter out there, but when you take Baroni’s best shot in the first round and then beat the guy up for the next 15+ minutes, shouldn’t you be the one getting rewarded?
It’s clear EliteXC is going with the more known and marketable fighter on a national scale, but what are you thinking if you’re Hose? You just beat a guy who is 10-9. You’re 6-1. Yet, the 10-9 guy gets the bigger fight on the first card on national television in front of an audience MMA hasn’t reached yet? Maybe as the sport finds its place on the national scene, it’ll change, but sooner or later, guys that get the big fights are going to have to be the ones that earn it in the cage, not the ones that are more marketable outside of it.
>> Big card on Maui this weekend as promoter Mike Malone puts on a Hawaii Fighting Championship event at War Memorial Stadium Saturday night. Kaleo Kwan fights in Tyson Coloma-Nahooikaika in the main event. Other good fights include Kiana Hyatt against Tony Bergamo and Albert Manners against William Armstrong. Manners, who trains with BJ Penn in Hilo, has been followed around by the Tapout crew in preparation for the fight. For those that don’t know, the Tapout has its own reality show on the Versus network where three guys go around the world to find the best fighters as they get ready for upcoming fights. The Tapout crew has been filming Manners leading up to Saturday night and will be at the event along with Penn and Icon Fitness trainer Chris Leben of the UFC. Looks like a good event for those of you on Maui to check out.
>> UPDATE: Thanks to an email, I did some research and the EliteXC PPV Saturday night is on Showtime as well as Showtime PPV. Those people that already pay for Showtime won’t have to fork out the $24.95 it costs to order the PPV. In addition to Jake Shields having to withdraw from his fight, Nick Diaz also won’t be competing on the card. For those that are interested in watching, obviously the Frank Shamrock/Cung Le main event will be huge, but I’m excited to see Gilbert Melendez back fighting in the states. Melendez, 13-1, is coming off the first lost of his career in Japan and holds a win over local boys Harris Sarmiento and Stephen Palling. The Palling fight happened in Hawaii in 2004.
Posted in Fights Comments
From March 24, 2008 By Billy Hull
Big congratulations to Pearl City’s Mark Oshiro, who earned a first round KO victory over Chris Cariaso to open Friday night’s ShoXC card on Showtime.
Oshiro came into the fight with an injured back he hurt during training and was in trouble during the early minutes. Cariaso scored a takedown and went right into the mount position before eventually getting Oshiro’s back. Oshiro took a few shots to the head and a couple of knees to the back of the leg, but was able to block a rear naked choke attempt and eventually worked his way back to his feet. As the fighters turned to separate, Oshiro clocked Cariaso with a clean right hook that put him on the canvas. Oshiro pounced on his fallen opponent to force the referee to stop the fight as Cariaso could not defend himself.
With the win, Oshiro is now 10-1 and is expected to fight on the next Icon card June 14. Maui’s Analu Brash also fought on the same card, but was stopped in the first round by Shane Del Rosario of California. Rosario took advantage of Brash’s inexperience on the ground and pounded out a TKO victory.
Be sure to check out 1500-AM at 9 a.m. Monday morning when I’ll co-host the Fighters Club Radio Show with Icon Sport promoter Patrick Freitas. We’ll talk about MMA and if it really has hit mainstream yet as well as preview this weekend’s HFC event on Maui. We’ll also discuss the EliteXC card on Showtime this Saturday featuring Frank Shamrock against Cung Le and the battle for the EliteXC welterweight title between Jake Shields and Drew Fickett.
For those that remember, Shields won the Rumble on the Rock welterweight tournament at the Blaisdell Arena a couple pf years ago in what has turned out to be a stacked event. The 8-man field included current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, former Icon Sport champion Frank Trigg, current WEC champion Carlos Condit and Yushin Okami, who could be Silva’s next opponent in the UFC.
Posted in Fights Comments
From March 20, 2008 By Billy Hull
Just got the official press release about the first EliteXC show broadcast on CBS:
LOS ANGELES, March 20 — CBS and ProElite, Inc. today announced that the first live primetime mixed martial arts event will be broadcast Saturday, May 31 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS will be broadcast live from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
“We’re excited to introduce broadcast television viewers to America’s fastest growing sport with this prime time event,” said Kelly Kahl, Senior Executive Vice President, CBS Primetime. “EliteXC is putting together a lineup card that showcases the unique personalities, world-class athleticism, and raw power and emotion that characterizes mixed martial arts.”
Champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler will put his title on the line against Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith in a middleweight championship bout. EliteXC heavyweight phenom, Kimbo Slice, will also participate in the May 31 event along with other stars from mixed martial arts. Additional matchups will be announced at a later date.
“I am very happy for the highly trained fighters, who will finally get the kind of exposure they deserve, and, of course, the viewers, who will get the opportunity to learn that MMA is truly a sport that requires an abundance of skills, both mentally and physically,” said Gary Shaw, EliteXC Live Events President.
CBS and ProElite, Inc., a Los Angeles-based leading entertainment and media company that produces world class mixed martial arts (MMA) events, announced last month they were teaming up to bring MMA to a major broadcast television network for the first time. CBS will broadcast four MMA events per year, produced by ProElite’s EliteXC fight division, as two-hour live primetime specials.
Mixed martial arts is a sport evolved from a number of ancient combat disciplines including judo, jiu-jitsu, karate, wrestling and kickboxing. World-class athletes engage in hand-to-hand combat in a ring — both caged and traditional — and must adapt their fighting style to fit their opponent. The wide variety of styles and techniques make every event an unpredictable spectacle.
CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS will be produced by SHOWTIME Sports. The executive producer is David Dinkins, Jr. with Bob Dunphy directing.
For additional information visit www.proelite.com
————
Now we know why Lawler wasn’t ready to commit to fighting Kala Kolohe Hose on March 15. It’s interesting to note that Lawler was also part of the first UFC fight shown on cable when he beat Steve Berger. It was shown on FSN’s Best Damn Sports Show Period.
Also don’t forget tomorrow night’s ShoXC event broadcast tape delayed in Hawaii at 8 p.m. on Showtime. Local boy Mark Oshiro will fight in the televised opener against Chris Cariaso and Maui’s Analu Brash takes on Shane Del Rosario in a heavyweight fight.
Posted in Fights Comments
From March 19, 2008 By Billy Hull
Big mahalo to Norman Kaui at MMAHawaii.com for the photo from Tuesday’s press conference.
42-year-old Egan Inoue, who became a huge fan favorite in Hawaii during a seven-fight winning streak in Super Brawl (now Icon Sport), announced on Tuesday he has signed a deal to compete for X-1 World Events. Inoue will will return to the ring after four-plus years away from the sport as the headliner for the May 16th Legends show at the Blaisdell Arena.
Inoue’s opponent has yet to be determined. He will be joined on the card by Ray Cooper, Marcelo Tigre, Niko Vitale and Tyson Nam.
Egan hasn’t fought since Dec. 2003 when he lost to Jason “Mayhem” Miller after injuring his ribs in the second round. Inoue was sprawled out in the middle of the ring at the end of the round and couldn’t continue. While the win served as a springboard for “Mayhem” to become a big name in the MMA world, it was the last we saw of Egan in a ring.
After battling injuries and personal problems, Egan says he’s refreshed and ready to see how he can match up with the fighters of today.
“What I’m trying to get at for the first fight is I just want to see where I am,” Inoue said. “I didn’t make any decisions on how many fights. I want to do this fight and it will tell me what I do after it.”
Following the Miller fight, Egan has spent most of his time running two gyms-The Studio and Grappling Unlimited-n Manoa Marketplace. He has spent countless hours training men and women of all ages and has watched the sport blow up worldwide at an amazing rate. It’s something he always hoped for, but he never expected it to get quite this big.
“I always hoped it would get like this,” Inoue said. “I am kind of surprised at how big it’s getting. This sport really is probably the best sport I have ever been in. A lot of people view it as brutality. If you don’t understand wrestling and boxing and jiu-jitsu and how they mix together and how hard they are to pit together, then you don’t understand. If you try to learn about it, then you’ll realize it isn’t just guys trying to kill each other. Everyone is highly trained.”
Inoue went on to say that he thought fighters were becoming much more well-rounded in their skills when he left the sport, but recently he’s starting to see more fighters become one-dimensional. Egan says ending his career with two loses is something that has always bothered him, and he’s back to go out the right way.
With a win.
Posted in Fighters Comments
From March 17, 2008 By Billy Hull
Icon Sport came up big again with another unbelievable main event to cap a thrilling action-packed To Hell and Back card Saturday night.
After taking an enormous amount of punishment in the first round, Kala Kolohe Hose came back and put a beating on an exhausted Phil Baroni to become Hawaii’s first local Icon Sport middleweight champion since Niko Vitale. I was hoping I’d finally get some reaction from Hose after the fight, but he stayed true to his quiet and humble self, even in victory. Both fighters showed tremendous heart in going at it for over 20 minutes, but in the end, Kala took a huge step towards becoming a big star in mixed martial arts.
Some quick notes from other fights on the card:
It was good to see former professional boxer Jeremy Williams finally land that big punch we were waiting to see. A big left hook put Augie Padeken on the mat and an overhand right to follow quickly ended it.
We also saw the Icon debut of Hilo’s Ross “Da Boss” Ebanez, who needed just nine seconds to beat Brennan Kamaka after pummeling him through the ropes, literally.
In probably the biggest upset on the card outside of the main event, Russell Doane shocked a lot of people with a first-round TKO victory over Tyson Nam.
Just two of the 13 fights went the distance as fans were treated to a nice mix of TKO’s and submissions. Eddie Rincon and PJ Dean were one of the fights to go all three rounds, but both fighters put on an excellent show with Dean getting the victory. I also saw Matt Comeau in action for the first time and came away very impressed. Not only did Icon give fans a great main event, but we also saw some real good looking young fighters that look like they will be around for a long time to come.
Icon’s next show is tentatively scheduled for June 14.
Big thanks to Richard Walker, who has his own blog called The Photo Lounge, for providing all the art from the event. He has taken some great photos at MMA shows over the years, and it’s nice to finally have a place for people to see more than the one or two shots that appear in the paper. Also, my apologies for not having any video highlights from the show like we hoped. We had some difficulties, but hopefully we’ll have it fixed in time for the next show.
Posted in Fights Comments
From March 15, 2008 By Billy Hull
Jason Genegabus, our photo man Richard Walker and I are here at Icon Sport: To Hell and Back. Keep checking back for live updates after each fight if you can’t make it to the Blaisdell Arena.
Update: Show is scheduled to begin in 10 minutes. Kala just left the ring. Said he’s ready to go. Looks pumped. Jeremy Williams is chilling in the ring while Ross Ebanez is warming up, doing some grappling exercises with one of his coaches. Walker just called from ringside to say many of the fighters are complaining about the mat. A lot of guys are slipping on it and a couple of the logos are already peeling off. Not a good sign.
Kona Ke (0-0) vs. Micah Ige (0-0)
R1-Ige slips on the mat right away. Ke warned for punching to the back of the head. Ke lands a nice uppercut. Big left hand. Ke takes Ige’s back and works the choke. Ige taps.
Winner-Kona Ke def. Micah Ige at 1:41 of Round 1 due to submission (choke).
Nui Wheeler (1-0) vs. Jay Bolos (1-2-1)
R1-Wheeler lands a high kick and quickly works the takedown. Bolos stands up but eats a right hand. Bolos takes him down and quickly is in the mount. Now he takes his back. Wheeler defending the choke. Nui reverses and is now on top in Bolos’ full guard. Wheeler up on his feet. Big right hand. Wheeler working for a guillotine. Big knee to the head. And another to the ribs. Wheeler closes the round with a flurry of knees and a takedown. (Star Bulletin scores that round 10-9 for Wheeler)
R2-Round starts and Wheeler slips coming out of his corner. This could be a problem all night. Wheeler with a big left hook and again takes down Bolos. Wheeler struggling to do any damage in his guard as Bolos works a triangle. Bolos slips in an armbar. Wheeler taps.
Winner-Jay Bolos def. Nui Wheeler at 1:26 of Round 2 due to submission (armbar).
Brandon Pieper (0-1) vs. Ricky Wallace (0-1)
R1-Brandon lands a short left. They get backed into a corner. Wallace catches Pieper in a guillotine chok. Pieper taps.
Winner-Ricky Wallace def. Brandon Pieper at 37 seconds of round 1 by submission (standing guillotine choke).
Zack Rapal (0-1) vs. Dwayne Haney (3-0)
R1-Two mean rights by Haney to start. Haney now in Rapal’s rubber guard. Rapal throws him off then lands a kick. Both fighters back up. Straight left by Haney. Two kicks from Rapal stun his opponent. Inside leg kick from Rapal, straight left counter by Haney. Haney now in Rapal’s full guard. Haney going for a guillotine. He has some kind of choke locked in. Rapal taps.
Winner-Dwayne Haney def. Zack Rapal at 2:27 of Round 1 due to submission (front choke according to T Jay Thompson).
Alan Lima (1-0) vs. David Padilla (6-12)
R1-Padilla scored a quick takedown. Both fighters back up. Lima shoots in and gets a takedown of his own. Not much action. Now Lima opens up with a barrage of punches. Fighters back up and Lima scores an inside leg trip as the round ends. (SB scores it 10-9 Lima)
R2-Fighters clinch right away. Another leg trip by Lima who gains north-south position. Now he switches into the side mount. Lima working forearms to the head and knees to the body. Padilla blocks a kimura attempt. Lima stays in control as round ends. (SB scores it 10-9 Lima)
R3-Lima eats a punch on a shot attempt. Padilla lands a big left hook, but Lima is able to grab ahold of Padilla and work another takedown. Ref stands them up, Padilla lands two huge rights as the fight ends. Too little, too late. (SB scores it 10-9 Lima)
Winner-Alan Lima def. David Padilla by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Matt Comeau (1-0) vs. Elias Delos Reyes (1-0)
R1-Reyes eats a kick and shoots in. Reyes gets thrown to the mat, but quickly locks in a triangle. Comeau escapes and slams Reyes. Reyes tries a guillotine but Comeau slips out. Comeau in Reyes’ guard now stands up and drops a couple punches. Comeau landing some solid shots. Reyes goes for an armbar. Comeau escapes into north-south position. Round ends. Tough round to score. SB gives Comeau the nod 10-9.
R2-Both guys eat kicks at the same time. Reyes just misses a big right. Reyes locks in a guillotine. Comeau holding on. Comeau slips out right into Reyes’ full guard. Comeau going for a side choke. Now he secures full mount. Big flurry of punches. Reyes rolls to his back. Comeau landing bombs. Ref stops it.
Winner-Matt Comeau def. Elias Delos Reyes at 2:35 of round 2 by TKO (strikes).
Eddie Rincon (1-2) vs. P.J. Dean (0-3)
R1-Crowd seems amped up for this fight. Dean scores an early takedown. Rincon doing a good job controlling him from the guard. Chants of PJ and Eddie as the crowd seems split 50-50 on this fight. Dean still on top, Lands a couple punches. Now going for a guillotine choke. Works into a half guard. Locks in the guillotine but Rincon fighting it off. Rincon pops out and takes top control. Round ends. (SB scores a very close round 10-9 Dean)
R2-Big kick by Dean who eats a right. And another right. Big knee by Rincon. Dean ties him up to avoid further damage, but is rocked. Dean gets the takedown. Slips into side mount. Dean’s corner screaming for hammer fists. Dean seems content to control position. Rincon works back to full guard. Ref repositions the two in the middle of the ring. Dean lands a couple lefts. Cornerman Mike Onzuka is pleading for hammer fists. Dean working the body. Round ends. (SB scores it 10-9 Dean)
R3-Dean ducks a right and lands one of his own. Big kick. Dean with a barrage of punches. Rincon shakes them off. He shoots in but Dean goes for a choke. Dean on top of Rincon again. Dean staying busy in Rincon’s guard, but not doing much damage. Ref stands them up, but I have no idea why. Dean was busy the whole time. Dean throws a barrage in the final 10 minutes, but is dropped by a right hand as the round ends. Wild final 10 seconds. (SB gives round to Dean 10-9)
Winner-PJ Dean def. Eddie Rincon by unanimous decisions (scores not read).
Brennan Kamaka (6-11) vs. Ross Ebanez (17-6)
R1-Ebanez lands a huge left. Kamaka tumbles into the ropes. Ebanez pounces with a barrage of punches. Corner throws in the towel as Kamaka falls through the ropes. Over before it even started.
Winner-Ross Ebanez def. Brennan Kamaka by corner stoppage at 0:09 of Round 1.
Wayne Perrin III (1-1) vs. Koa Ramos (3-0)
R1-Ramos and Perrin hit the ground with Ramos scrambling to get on top. Fight restarted in the middle of the ring with Ramos quickly getting the mount. Ramos rains down a ton of punches. Perrin in trouble. Perrin rolls to his back. Ramos locks in the rear naked choke. Perrin taps.
Winner-Koa Ramos def. Wayne Perrin III by submission (rear naked choke) at 1:29 of round 1.
Time for the feature bouts of the evening. Doesn’t look like there’s an intermission. Props to Icon for putting on a show that’s flowing quickly. Crowd starting to pour in as well. Looks like we’re between 3-4,000 people in attendance.
And there’s a Mayhem sighting…
Russell Doane (1-1) vs. Tyson Nam (4-1)
R1-Doane takes down Nam right away. Nam pops up and just misses eating a knee. Big right hand by Nam. Nam drops Doane with a quick left. Nam drops a left and Doane gets back up. Nam throws him down and catches him with a right. Doane doesn’t look phased. Misses with a combo. Doane with another takedown. Doane lands some big shots. Nam is rocked. Ref stops the fight. Nam gets up to argue but almost falls down. Definitely a good stoppage. Huge win for Doane.
Winner-Russell Doane def. Tyson Nam at 3:53 of round 1 by TKO (strikes).
145-pound State Title Fight
Sadhu Bott (2-0) vs. Bronson Pieper (2-1)
R1-Bronson throwing some wicked punches, but can’t connect. Bott with a takedown, but Pieper reverses and is on top. Bott tries to get up but eats a right hand. Bott throwing punches off the ground. Pieper catches an up kick and throws a hard right. Ref stands them up. Big right by Bronson. They both trade lefts. Pieper with a takedown. Bott going for an armbar. Pieper escapes into side mount. Pieper pins Bott’s arm under his leg. Bott manages to get up but is cracked again. Two big knees by Bott. Pieper is stunned but rolls on top. Bott goes for an armbar but Pieper is trying to pull out. He can’t escape. Ref stops it. Didn’t see a tap but Pieper wasn’t going to get out.
Winner and new 145-pound state champion, Sadhu Bott def. Bronson Pieper at 4:47 of Round 1 by submission (armbar).
Auggie Padeken (6-7) vs. Jeremy Williams (4-0)
R1-Williams peppers Padeken with a jab. Right hand to the body by Wiliams. Jab by Williams. The boxer is picking Padeken apart. Padeken shoots in and gets the takedown. Williams is more active from the bottom. Williams kicks him off. Both fighters back to their feet. Williams with a HUGE left hand that drops Padeken, Follows it up with a right, but Padeken is out already. Wicked left hook to the temple. There’s the knockout power from Williams we’ve been waiting to see.
Winner-Jeremy Williams def. Augie Padeken at 2:18 of round 1 by KO.
World Middleweight Title Fight
Phil Baroni (10-8) vs. Kala Kolohe Hose (5-1)
R1-Phil shoots in and takes down Hose immediately. Baroni controlls the action and nails Hose with a big right. Baroni going to work with the knees. Hose on the bottom. Crowd is on their feet.Hose back up, Big right hand. Crowd is going nuts.
Baroni with another takedown. Hose doing more on the ground. Baroni tiring already. Hose gets on his feet. Big right hand. ANother takedown from Phil. Not much action onthe ground. Round ends. (SB scores it 10-9 Baroni)
R2-Fight begins. There’s something going on in Baronis corner. He looks exhausted. Hose with a kick. Hose with a flurry. Jumping knee by Hose but Baroni takes him down and is on top. Kala is naling Baroni repeatedly from the ground. Kala going for a kimura attempt. He has it. Baroni trying to fight it off. If Kala can roll him over, Phil’s in trouble. Kala lets it go and hits Baroni with a left. Kala doing all of this damage with Phil on top. Baroni catches him with a right. Ref stands the fighters up. Place is going wild. Everybody is standing.
2:30 left in the round. Baroni coveres up and is on his knees. Kala going to work on the body. Phil has Kalas leg but Hose blocks the slam. Kala going for a choke. Now Kala looks tired. Big body shot by Hose. And another. Phil is on all fours but Hose struggling to do much damage. Now Hose catches him with two right hands. Hose continually pounding away at Baroni. Hammer fist by Hose. Baroni taking a beating. 30 seconds left in the round. Another right from Kala. Ref stands them up again. Kala warned for hitting Phil in the back of the head. Place errupts in boos. Fight restarted. Baroni has his hands on his knees. Round ends. (SB gives Hose the round 10-9)
R3-Hose’s corner slow to get out of the ring. Big left hand by Kala. Knee by Kala. Baroni going for takedowns. Can’t get it. Kala with a left. Baroni grabs at Kala’s leg. Baroni on all fours again. Big knee. Hose now in Baroni’s guard. Kala going to work on top now. Big right hand. Hammer fists. What a war. Body/head combo rocks Baroni who ties Hose up from the ground. Hose stands up. Throws a couple kicks. Hose toying with Baroni. Hose flies in with a right hand. And another. Hose going to work. Hose back up and working the kicks. Baroni just lying on the ground as Hose stands over him. Big kick by Hose.
Hose with a right hand, Two kicks to the body. Baroni still on the ground. Hose peppering Baroni in the head but can’t sustain it. Hose jumps on Phil and throws a bunch of right hands. Baroni hasn’t done anything this round. Kala back up and kicking away at Phil. Big left hand! A slew of rights. Kala content with diving in with a couple punches then standing back up. Now Baroni brings him into his full guard. Round ends with Kala on top of Phil. Completely one-sided round. (SB gives Kala a 10-8 round)
We head into the championship rounds…
R4-Kala’s corner again slow to leave the ring. Straight left by Baroni. Kala answered with a counter right. Kala with power shots to the body. Baroni again is on all fours. Phil warned for feeling. He escaped under the ropes, Both guys standing in front of each other. Right by Kala. Left by Kala. Uppercut. Baroni just covering up. Baroni holding the ropes and running away from Kala. Back down on all fours. Baroni looks completely gassed. Kala continues to hammer Phil in the ribs. Phil reverses and takes top control. Ref moves them to center of the ring.
Kala pops right up. Big knee. Kala stomping away on Phil. Kala on top. Peppering Baroni in the head with right hands. Big left kick to the face. Baroni slides under the bottom rope again. Baroni’s face is bruised and battered. Ref restarts the fight. Left-Right-Left combo and Phil goes down and covers up. 1 min left. Baroni scores with a left. Round ends. (SB scores the bout 10-9 for Hose).
R5-Five minutes left. Who has anything left? Crowd errupts in Kala chant. I believe this is the first Icon main event go into the fifth round. Kala drops Baroni with a right hand. A kick by Kala. Kala pounces on Phil. A barrage of right hands. The ref steps in. It’s over. The Icon middleweight title returns to Hawaii.
Winner-Kala Kolohe Hose def. Phil Baroni by TKO (strikes) at 0:26 of the fifth round to become the NEW Icon Sport World Middleweight Champion!
Allright time to file a story.
Posted in Fights Comments
