Inoue Victorious in Comeback
James Meinhardt May 17, 2008
HONOLULU -- Just one month shy of his 43rd birthday, Egan Inoue (Pictures) made a successful comeback at X1
World Promotion's "Legends" on Friday, stopping Hans Marrero (Pictures) with strikes in front of a
supportive hometown crowd of roughly 3,500 at the Neal S. Blaisdell
Arena.
"I was really happy," Inoue said. "My reflexes were pretty good. I saw his first punch coming. I'm not sure, I think I caught it with my hand basically and then I saw the kick coming."
The more experienced Inoue ducked under the missed kick and grabbed
his opponent.
"My game plan was to keep it standing," he said. "But when I got that clinch and I had his back, I thought, ‘You know what? Let's just win.'"
"When I hit him with that first punch, I saw him kind of freeze up a little bit," Inoue said. "I saw his hands not block himself, so I figured hit him in the body to see if his hands came down a little bit. But it didn't, so I figured he might be a little out and then I figured I'd just finish it."
Visibly stunned by the punches, Marrero rolled to his stomach to avoid more damage as Inoue continued the onslaught. The ref stepped in to give Inoue the TKO at 0:59 of round one.
In the evening's co-main event, Brandon Wolff (Pictures) took the welterweight title from Chad Reiner (Pictures) after a grueling five-round battle.
Wolff took control in the opening round, connecting with a right hand that was acknowledged by Reiner with a nod and a smile. The fighter clinched, and Wolff took the fight to the mat with a beautiful hip toss into side control. Reiner was able to regain guard, but Wolff opened up a nasty cut over his left eye with an elbow.
Early in the second, Wolff caught Reiner coming in with a left shin across the face. The two fighters wrestled for top position on the ground before returning to the feet, where Reiner used the clinch to unload some knees to Wolff's head and body.
Wolff looked completely spent in the third frame, wading into the middle of the ring with his hands down at his waist. Reiner took over the standup, delivering punches and knees to his tired opponent.
Reiner continued with the momentum built in the third round as the fight moved into championship territory. He scooped up a double-leg and walked Wolff into the center of the ring before slamming him into the canvas. From there, Reiner took back mount and attempted to work in the choke, but he couldn't seal it up.
In the fifth and final round, Wolff looked to be getting his second wind as he landed a right hand that took Reiner's legs out from under him. Wolff flurried, but Reiner survived and was able to get on top. Wolff attempted a kimura and a guillotine choke from his back before time expired.
"The first round, Brandon probably won that round," Reiner said. "It just woke me up. Second, third and fourth round, I thought I won. And in the fifth round I thought it was really close. I think I won three rounds to two, but the judges saw it differently. You can't complain about that. You just got to move on."
Two judges ruled in favor of Wolff 48-47, while a third judge saw it as 48-47 for Reiner in the razor-thin split decision.
"I could have gone in there and taken him down every time and probably beat him up, but I wanted to put on a good show for the fans, so I stood and banged with him," Reiner said. "I just wanted to make it an interesting fight. I worked on my standup a lot and I proved I have a chin."
Taking the fight on just a few days' notice, Richie Whitson (Pictures) scored a knockout over Ray "Bradda" Cooper in the first round to win the recently vacated lightweight title.
Cooper got the takedown early and managed to get to side control, but Whitson escaped. The Hawaiian attacked in the scramble, hitting Whitson as he stood up along the ropes.
Whitson, who was coming off a third-round TKO victory just 10 days ago in Alaska, learned from his early mistake and employed good takedown defense to keep the fight standing, where he scored with knees from the clinch.
The two fighters began exchanging wildly, and Whitson caught Cooper on the chin with a short left hand after taking a big left hand himself.
"I ate one, then it was just natural reaction to throw it right back," Whitson said. "I didn't actually even know he was knocked out. I just hit him and he was down and that was the end of the fight."
Veteran Kolo Koka (Pictures) had his hands full with relative newcomer Michael Brightmon (Pictures).
The two battled to a decision in a fight that saw both fighters score knockdowns and takedowns.
Koka controlled the early rounds, stunning Brightmon in the second and doing damage from top position. Brightmon came back strong in the final frame, catching Koka in the corner and sending him to the mat.
"I think he threw an overhand right. He caught me here, man, right on top," Koka said, pointing to the top left side of his head. "Now I know I do have a weak spot on my head."
Trying to capitalize on the knockdown, Brightmon took mount and started furiously trying to pound away at Koka but could not finish him. It was enough to win the round but not the fight, as the judges gave Koka the unanimous decision, 29-28.
Dylan Clay (Pictures) took a TKO victory over Ron Jhun when Jhun, whose wife was reportedly taken to the hospital for unknown reasons prior to the fight, decided he could no longer compete after the first round.
Clay looked impressive, landing a knee that cut Jhun over his left eye. Later in the round, Jhun caught an accidental finger poke in that same eye and the bout was halted until he could recover.
The fight went on, and Clay dropped Jhun with another knee and dealt damage as Jhun goaded him from the bottom. Clay eventually took mount and looked for submissions as time ran out.
Late-replacement Mike Pedro (Pictures) made short work of Kana Hyatt (Pictures), needing only 16 seconds to secure an armbar and capture X1's 135-pound title.
"I hit him, then took him down and worked the ground-and-pound," Hyatt said after the bout. "I just got careless and left my arm out there, and he took it. Good for him."
Brandon Visher (Pictures) and Lorenzo Moreno (Pictures) put on a good show in their fight. The action was ultimately cut short, though, when Moreno could not continue after the second round due to an apparent rib injury.
Injury also struck in the opening bout of the night when Sean Sakata twisted his knee badly while attempting a low kick.
Sakata immediately grabbed at his knee and fell to the ground in pain. Doctors rushed in to check on the fallen fighter and determined that he could not continue, giving John Vistante the win just 10 seconds into the 170-pound amateur title match.
"I was really happy," Inoue said. "My reflexes were pretty good. I saw his first punch coming. I'm not sure, I think I caught it with my hand basically and then I saw the kick coming."
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"My game plan was to keep it standing," he said. "But when I got that clinch and I had his back, I thought, ‘You know what? Let's just win.'"
Inoue took the opportunity in front of him and slammed Marrero to
the canvas, quickly passed to side mount and then stood over his
opponent and began raining down punches.
"When I hit him with that first punch, I saw him kind of freeze up a little bit," Inoue said. "I saw his hands not block himself, so I figured hit him in the body to see if his hands came down a little bit. But it didn't, so I figured he might be a little out and then I figured I'd just finish it."
Visibly stunned by the punches, Marrero rolled to his stomach to avoid more damage as Inoue continued the onslaught. The ref stepped in to give Inoue the TKO at 0:59 of round one.
In the evening's co-main event, Brandon Wolff (Pictures) took the welterweight title from Chad Reiner (Pictures) after a grueling five-round battle.
Wolff took control in the opening round, connecting with a right hand that was acknowledged by Reiner with a nod and a smile. The fighter clinched, and Wolff took the fight to the mat with a beautiful hip toss into side control. Reiner was able to regain guard, but Wolff opened up a nasty cut over his left eye with an elbow.
Early in the second, Wolff caught Reiner coming in with a left shin across the face. The two fighters wrestled for top position on the ground before returning to the feet, where Reiner used the clinch to unload some knees to Wolff's head and body.
Wolff looked completely spent in the third frame, wading into the middle of the ring with his hands down at his waist. Reiner took over the standup, delivering punches and knees to his tired opponent.
Reiner continued with the momentum built in the third round as the fight moved into championship territory. He scooped up a double-leg and walked Wolff into the center of the ring before slamming him into the canvas. From there, Reiner took back mount and attempted to work in the choke, but he couldn't seal it up.
In the fifth and final round, Wolff looked to be getting his second wind as he landed a right hand that took Reiner's legs out from under him. Wolff flurried, but Reiner survived and was able to get on top. Wolff attempted a kimura and a guillotine choke from his back before time expired.
"The first round, Brandon probably won that round," Reiner said. "It just woke me up. Second, third and fourth round, I thought I won. And in the fifth round I thought it was really close. I think I won three rounds to two, but the judges saw it differently. You can't complain about that. You just got to move on."
Two judges ruled in favor of Wolff 48-47, while a third judge saw it as 48-47 for Reiner in the razor-thin split decision.
"I could have gone in there and taken him down every time and probably beat him up, but I wanted to put on a good show for the fans, so I stood and banged with him," Reiner said. "I just wanted to make it an interesting fight. I worked on my standup a lot and I proved I have a chin."
Taking the fight on just a few days' notice, Richie Whitson (Pictures) scored a knockout over Ray "Bradda" Cooper in the first round to win the recently vacated lightweight title.
Cooper got the takedown early and managed to get to side control, but Whitson escaped. The Hawaiian attacked in the scramble, hitting Whitson as he stood up along the ropes.
Whitson, who was coming off a third-round TKO victory just 10 days ago in Alaska, learned from his early mistake and employed good takedown defense to keep the fight standing, where he scored with knees from the clinch.
The two fighters began exchanging wildly, and Whitson caught Cooper on the chin with a short left hand after taking a big left hand himself.
"I ate one, then it was just natural reaction to throw it right back," Whitson said. "I didn't actually even know he was knocked out. I just hit him and he was down and that was the end of the fight."
Veteran Kolo Koka (Pictures) had his hands full with relative newcomer Michael Brightmon (Pictures).
The two battled to a decision in a fight that saw both fighters score knockdowns and takedowns.
Koka controlled the early rounds, stunning Brightmon in the second and doing damage from top position. Brightmon came back strong in the final frame, catching Koka in the corner and sending him to the mat.
"I think he threw an overhand right. He caught me here, man, right on top," Koka said, pointing to the top left side of his head. "Now I know I do have a weak spot on my head."
Trying to capitalize on the knockdown, Brightmon took mount and started furiously trying to pound away at Koka but could not finish him. It was enough to win the round but not the fight, as the judges gave Koka the unanimous decision, 29-28.
Dylan Clay (Pictures) took a TKO victory over Ron Jhun when Jhun, whose wife was reportedly taken to the hospital for unknown reasons prior to the fight, decided he could no longer compete after the first round.
Clay looked impressive, landing a knee that cut Jhun over his left eye. Later in the round, Jhun caught an accidental finger poke in that same eye and the bout was halted until he could recover.
The fight went on, and Clay dropped Jhun with another knee and dealt damage as Jhun goaded him from the bottom. Clay eventually took mount and looked for submissions as time ran out.
Late-replacement Mike Pedro (Pictures) made short work of Kana Hyatt (Pictures), needing only 16 seconds to secure an armbar and capture X1's 135-pound title.
"I hit him, then took him down and worked the ground-and-pound," Hyatt said after the bout. "I just got careless and left my arm out there, and he took it. Good for him."
Brandon Visher (Pictures) and Lorenzo Moreno (Pictures) put on a good show in their fight. The action was ultimately cut short, though, when Moreno could not continue after the second round due to an apparent rib injury.
Injury also struck in the opening bout of the night when Sean Sakata twisted his knee badly while attempting a low kick.
Sakata immediately grabbed at his knee and fell to the ground in pain. Doctors rushed in to check on the fallen fighter and determined that he could not continue, giving John Vistante the win just 10 seconds into the 170-pound amateur title match.
