LIHU‘E — If the crowd at Hanapepe Stadium tonight is anything like the crowd at Kukui Grove Center for the mixed martial arts weigh-in event yesterday, the stadium will be full, and rocking.
There wasn’t much drama at the weigh-in, with the tiniest of the competitors, boys competing for a state kickboxing title, getting the loudest rounds of applause, with the adult males preferring to save their energy for tonight’s paying audience.
The Kauai Mixed Martial Arts Cage Match VIII begins with the gates opening at 5 p.m., and the first of 13 bouts scheduled to begin around 6:30 p.m., said Vance Pascua, who along with Randy Ortiz are the promoters and owners of Ainofea Productions.
The ringside seats were nearly sold out yesterday afternoon, with Pascua scrambling to get more chairs for more ringside seats, which should be available at the gate for $40 each. General admission at the door will be $30, he said.
Highlighting the card is ‘Oma‘o native Eben Kaneshiro, with a professional record of 14-5. He is the fourth-ranked MMA fighter in Hawai‘i in the 150-pound weight class. He fights for Kamole Jiu Jitsu when he is in Hawai‘i, and operates New Breed Academy, a martial-arts instruction school in Portland, Ore.
His opponent is Bronson Pieper, ranked sixth in the state in his weight class and fighting for Jesus is Lord on O‘ahu. He is a late addition, as the number-five fighter in the 150-pound weight class, Matt Comeau, suffered injuries in a car accident that kept him by doctor’s orders off of today’s card.
Comeau still shares the cover of the event program with Kaneshiro.
Kaneshiro’s currently scheduled opponent will be a hand full, said Kaneshiro, 29.
Kaneshiro said he has seen a couple of Pieper’s fights on tape, and figures the main event will be a brawl to the finish.
He said he has been involved in all of Pascua’s fights on the island, from way back when he was one of the only Kauaians to take to the ring.
Kaneshiro said he is glad the sport has grown to involve many more Kauaians, and even if his professions weren’t teaching and fighting, he’d still see the benefits of learning and practicing MMA.
“MMA to me is a good sport for youth, keeps them off the streets. It teaches them skills” of use both in and out of the ring, like discipline, hard work, self-respect and, for the best of the best, a way to make a living.
New Breed Academy has branches in Los Angeles and Portland, Ore.
While his recent focus has been on helping train his students, something his mother Valerie Kaneshiro said has cut into valuable training time, Eben Kaneshiro said he has been able to get several quality training sessions in, and is ready to go tonight though he is also fighting symptoms of a mild cold.
The last time he was home was in August. He usually stays with friends when he is on the island.
His last fight was in November, when he caught a couple of elbows to the forehead that required 13 stitches, in a fight in Eugene, Ore. that he lost. He sustained his worst injuries in that fight as well, he said.
And while he can understand people opposing MMA as a brutal blood sport, he is quick to point out that there have been many more deaths associated with boxing, which involves numerous blows to the head.
Only around three people have died in MMA accidents, and most of those were in training arenas, not sanctioned bouts, he said.
“There’s blood, but it’s a safe sport. Instruction is the key.”
And while the violent nature of the sport may tend to bring out the monster in the man in the ring, there is an obvious camaraderie and respect the fighters share outside the cage.
“We’re all friends,” he said of the fighters trained on Kaua‘i. “We all went to school together.”
“It’s a professional sport. It’s not a street fight,” he added. “It’s nothing personal,” he said of the tradition of handshakes and hugs before and after the fights, with 540 seconds (three, three-minute rounds) of fury in between.
The MMA bouts on the card end either with one opponent tapping out, or asking for the fight to be stopped by tapping on the mat with a free hand; by knockout; or by judges’ decision if both fighters survive all three rounds.
Kaneshiro is not surprised by the growth of the sport, he continued. He practiced MMA for seven years, and practiced jiu jitsu for 10 years before that. With more quality instructors, national and international television exposure and more participants, it was only a matter of time before MMA became big business, he said.
Pascua said all state regulations are followed, all fighters will be checked out by ring Dr. Chris Sanchez before they are cleared to fight, and tight security will be in place to make sure spectators behave themselves.
He said his company makes enough of a profit to ensure there will be another card later.
In addition to the Kaneshiro-Pieper bout, there will be a slew of Kaua‘i fighters on the card, as well as keiki in a kickboxing exhibition, and two 70-pounders going at it over three, 90-second rounds for the state Amateur Youth Kickboxing title. Nainoa Dung, who tipped the scales at 72.2 pounds last night, will take on Lokahi Morante (60 pounds) for that title. Both are from O‘ahu.
Kickboxing combines boxing and kickboxing skills, but is minus the wrestling that is included in MMA bouts.
In addition, two O‘ahu fighters will participate in Kaua‘i’s first “triple threat” match, where they will kickbox in the first round, don gloves and headgear for kicking and punching in the second round, and engage in boxing and takedown wrestling and grappling in the third round, Pascua explained. The fighters, in the 155-pound weight class, are Colin Mackenzie of God’s Army, and Justin Konia of HMC.
Other Kaua‘i boxers on the card who will participate in kickboxing matches include Duane Silva (Disciples of Puhi, 170 pounds), versus DJ Bozu of HMC Academy of O‘ahu; Jeff Hidalgo Bumagat (Disciples of Puhi, open class), versus Ezekial Lopes of HMC; and Erickson Abalos (Disciples of Puhi, 145 pounds), versus Tyler Kobayashi of HMC.
Kauaians taking part in MMA matches include Josh Dubuois (freelance, 145 pounds), versus Waylan Mata (Bulls Pen); Domenick Ansagay (freelance, 130 pounds), versus Glen Daguio of Kauai Technical Institute; Ivan Ruiz (freelance, 169 pounds), versus Graham Kovaric (KTI); Randall Silva (KTI, 180 pounds), versus Mike Soloman, Bulls Pen; Sergio Hurtado (freelance, 125 pounds), versus Adam Rivera of Team Hakuilua of Wai‘anae; and Shane Kahahanui (KTI, 145 pounds), versus Jon Bernard of God’s Army.
The fight card is subject to change.
For more information, please see www.ainofea.com or www.kauaimartialarts.com
