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Kauai Jiu-Jitsu and martial
arts practitioners
making a move to mixed martial arts
After Eben Kaneshiro has blazed the trail for the rest of the island by
fighting and winning in MMA others have followed. Eric Pajdak won his amateur
Shooto fight in Oahu in 2004. Kimo Mundon became the first Kauaian to
fight MMA on Kauai. Kyle Sukihira and Kaeo Lopez look to make their
debut in Pro MMA soon, perhaps in March of 2005 on Kauai. There are
other young people who are also interested in fighting MMA in the future and
have the ability. I feel that Kyle and Kaeo have the ability to be
champions in Shooto or some of the venues in Hawaii. The only thing
limiting them is the lack of quality people to cross train with. Both are
young enough to have 10 year careers if they choose to.
 
Ka-Mole member Eben Kaneshiro is 8-2 in MMA and recently won his fight in
Guam. He is truly an international fighter having fought in the Philippines,
Hawaii, Guam and the mainland . Eben has been training hard and is on his way to becoming a
force in the bantam weight division. Aside from his submission skills Eben
uses his striking and wrestling abilities to keep opponents of balance.
Eben lost his fight for the King of the Cage Bantam weight title but he bounced
back with a win in Guam. A fight with Baret Yoshida on Kauai has been
rumored.
BJ Penn is the #1 pound for
pound fighter in MMA
 
After being fired by the UFC over a contract dispute BJ has responded by
beating the previously undefeated Rodrigo Gracie in his brothers venue,
Rumble on the Rock. BJ dominated every aspect of the fight further
enhancing his marketability. Pride is a very possible next step for BJ as
Pride is having a lightweight GP this year. BJ's teacher Verissimo has
been doing well in the UFC and looks to bounce back to his loss to Frank Trigg.
Personally I'd like to see Verissimo beat up Jason Miller who has been beating
up local fighters and mocking Hawaiian.
Falaniko
Vitale had a strong year as well. Niko is a veteran to MMA in SuperBrawl
and KOTC but he got his big break earlier this year when he fought a very good
fighter in Matt Lindland. Matt previously only had 1 professional loss (to
UFC champ Bustamante) and few people gave him any chance of winning.
Vitale proceed in beating Lindland in under a minute in one of the most bizarre
finishes in MMA history. Matt went for a belly to belly suplex but Niko
was able to adjust himself from rotating midair and Lindland landed on his back
instead knocking himself out. Fans on the internet called it a fluke and a
rematch happened in UFC 45. The second fight went more to conventional
thinking as Lindland used his world class wrestling skills to control Vitale on
the ground and achieve superior positioning. Vitale ended up tapping to
strikes on the ground late into the 3rd round but proved that he is world class.
Eben Kaneshiro (New Breed Academy) vs. Daniel Lima (Fight Club Jiu-Jitsu)
-FLYWEIGHT
The first main event of the evening rocked the house, starting from the
hilarious entrance of Kaneshiro to the technical exchange of positions starting
very early in the 1st round! Kaneshiro dominated Lima in both the 1st and 2nd
rounds, making good use of striking while inside Lima’s guard. Many thought
Lima would give up or the referee was going to stop the match with the endless
number of punches being reigned down on him; however, Lima hung in there and
came back strong in the third round. Lima had an extremely tight Kimura on
Kaneshiro in the 3rd, and many thought this was the end of Kaneshiro, but
Kaneshiro impressively got out of it! The fighters were very much of the same
caliber but Kaneshiro came out on top with a good combination of striking,
takedowns, and dominant ground position, winning via the judges’ decision!
|
 Are
you interesting in learning Mixed Martial Arts?
Ka-mole students also train in other forms of martial arts like
Muay Thai, wrestling, boxing, Judo. Ka-mole students are always open
to other arts that can help them become more complete martial artist.
Read More
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Kauai
Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial-Arts, and fighting news
