The Hawaiian faithful may have seen Renato Verissimo (Pictures) enter the cage for the final time tonight. In what was an exciting and competitive match with Kuniyoshi Hironaka (Pictures), Verissimo ate solid shots as he played in the guard and referee Larry Landless (Pictures), who two bouts earlier let Hideki Tadao (Pictures)’s faced get smashed, put a halt to the contest 3:03 of round two.
“Charuto” slammed Hironaka to the mat and won his first salvo of the fight, but the Japanese fighter had done too much to lose the round.
The high pace continued into the second until Yoshida landed a series of downward blows that hurt the Brazilian. After Landless stopped the contest, Verissimo walked to his corner and muttered, “I’m done.”
Moments later he confirmed that sentiment by explaining this was likely the last time he’d step into the cage as a competitor.
MMA has underscored the fact that a big man does not always beat a little one. Kazuhiro Hamanaka (Pictures) reminded people of that point tonight when he dominated Hawaiian Wesley Correira (Pictures) for a full round before using a Kimura from side-mount to win at 1:53 of round two.
From the opening bell the 217-pound Japanese fighter moved at the 266-lb. Correira’s legs, switching from side to side before scoring a pretty takedown. He did this at several points throughout, most notably when “Cabbage” attempted to stand and will himself back into the bout.
As the lopsided first period came to a close Hamanaka offered a foreshadowing of things to come by isolating and attacking an arm. Only the bell could save Correira from Kimura — and it did.
Moving into round two there was no let up from the Japanese, who immediately put the Hawaiian on his tattoo-covered back and fought from the side. First attacking the right arm, Hamanaka deftly switched to the left and forced Correira, who wore a pained expression, to tapout.
The story about weight also has a brutal flipside, often marked by one-sided outcomes and needless punishment.
That rang true tonight when Hideki Tadao (Pictures), outweighed by 50 pounds, absorbed three vicious Scott Junk (Pictures) elbows — the last of which was unnecessary and could have been prevented had Larry Landless (Pictures) acted rather than watched from just a foot away — and was forced to exit the cage on a stretcher.
Initial reports indicated Tadao suffered a smashed orbital bone on the right side of his face.
The end started as most do. Junk powered Tadao to the canvas and fell into mount. He forced the Japanese fighter’s head to the floor and landed a solid left hand before smashing down with consecutive elbow strikes.
Behind a mean right hand, local star and longtime SHOOTO veteran Ray Cooper (Pictures) finished Koji Yoshida 2:47 after the opening bell. Reversing an early Yoshida takedown, “Bradda” connected to the downed Japanese with punches.
Back on the feet, Cooper landed a vicious right hook that put Yoshida to the canvas for the first time. Referee Troy Mandelonez moved in, looking if he needed to rescue the yet-to-win Tokyoite, but gave berth and let the fight continue.
Cooper planted another right hook on Yoshida before a hard and fast right straight effectively ended the contest.
The brothers Wolff enjoyed a successful campaign tonight.
Brandon Wolff (Pictures) battered Josh McDonald to win by doctor’s stoppage between the first and second round in their tournament alternate bout, while Brenton Wolff finished Shinpei Sotoyama (Pictures) with consecutive uppercuts 2:34 of round one.
After knuckling up Matt Knaub (Pictures) from the top for nearly five minutes, Honolulu’s Steve Byrnes countered a Kimura to catch the Albuquerque middleweight in a tapout-inducing kneebar, 44 seconds of round two.
Eric Esch (Pictures) finished Aaron Aguilera 1:15 of round two with what was called a “rear-naked choke,” but was more similar to a sloppy schoolyard maneuver.
Chants of “Buddabean! Buddabean! Buddabean!” filled the arena during the modified-rules bout (only 15-second increments on the floor were allowed) that doubled as a bastardized Toughman bout.