Fresh off his impressive TKO over Murilo "Ninja" Rua, EliteXC and ICON Sport middleweight champion Robbie Lawler (Pictures) will return to ICON on Dec. 15 to defend his belt against Waianae, Hawaii's Kala Kolohe Hose (Pictures).
Lawler and Hose both saw action most recently at EliteXC's Sept. 15 event in Hawaii. Lawler beat Rua to win the EliteXC middleweight title, and Hose kept up his streak of first-round knockouts, needing only 20 seconds to stop Jeff Cox.
Dubbed "Fearless," the December ICON event will also include a 145-pound state title fight between champ Bronson Pieper and undefeated challenger Sadhu Bott and a light heavyweight matchup between Po'ai Suganuma and Richard Desforge, a training partner of Kala Kolohe Hose (Pictures).
Justin Buchholz (Pictures) turns down ShoXC, signs with UFC
After his notable first-round stoppage of Ikaika Choy-Fu (Pictures) at EliteXC on Sept. 15, Justin Buchholz (Pictures) was offered a multi-fight contract with ProElite. He was expected to fulfill the first of those fights on the Oct. 26 ShoXC card in Santa Ynez, Calif., but the ICON Sport state lightweight champ has apparently passed on the offer.
"Justin's new management has agreed to sign with another organization," said Patrick Freitas, former ICON Sport promoter and current ProElite employee. "ProElite had offered him a one-year, multi-fight deal with multi-year options that included ProElite-televised bouts and ICON bouts."
It seems that Buchholz picked up a manager in the days after his EliteXC win. According to a press release from his Hawaii gym, Bulls Pen, the lightweight has inked a four-fight deal with the UFC and is expected to fight in either November or December.
Ebanez defeats Brightmon at Beatdown V
In the main event of Rumble Inc.'s Beatdown V in Hilo, Hawaii, on Sept. 28, Ross Ebanez (Pictures) outpointed tough up-and-comer Michael Brightmon (Pictures).
"It was a tough fight," Brightmon told MMA Pipeline. "I took it on only two weeks' notice."
Despite the short notice and vast difference in experience, all accounts of the fight say Brightmon had a good showing, going blow-for-blow with the B.J. Penn (Pictures)-trained fighter for two rounds before losing the unanimous decision.
"If I had more time, I think I could have won," Brightmon said.
Overall, B.J. Penn (Pictures)'s fighters went 6-1 on the card. Jay Carter (Pictures) landed a kick to the head of Jonathan Joao to score a second-round KO; Buddy Betts finished Tino Cuban in the second round with a rear-naked choke; Sergio Mamone defeated Mike Cuban with a first-round rear-naked choke; and Maka Watson also beat Luis Parra with a rear-naked choke in the opening period.
The lone loss for team Penn came when Matt Comeau finished Chris Willems via rear-naked choke in round one.
Also on the card, Chris Cisneros submitted Makoa Hanaike with a heel hook in the second round; Delbert Grace defeated Germaine Estabillio via TKO in the first period; Shane Pacarro choked out David Kaahananui with a rear-naked choke in the first; Kana Hyatt (Pictures) submitted Nui Wheeler (Pictures) with yet another rear-naked choke in round one; and Alika Cabang won a TKO over John Estabillio in the opening round.
‘Cabbage' out again
In what seems an unfortunate trend for Wesley "Cabbage" Correira, the 28-year-old Hawaii native has dropped out of another bout. This time he has been scratched from a fight with Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures) at the Oct. 19 Hardcore Championship Fighting in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
"Truthfully we were never given a reason why he is a no-show," HCF CEO Keith Crawford told Sherdog.com. "His management is just as baffled by the lack of response for a fight of this nature. We were told that he is missing in action. I can guarantee you that Mr. Correira will never get a chance to compete in HCF. Our ownership group is steadfast in its resolve to treat fighters with the utmost respect ... until they disrespect us."
This comes after Correira dropped out of a bout against Deustch Pu'u at the Aug. 4 X-1 event in Honolulu just moments before the fight.
Torres tests positive, released
Following his Sept. 8 TKO loss against Jess Liaudin (Pictures) in the UFC, Anthony Torres (Pictures) was informed that he had Boldenone, a type of anabolic steroid, in his system. That wasn't the only bad news he received.
"Anthony's test came up positive and, unrelated to that, he lost his fight and was given his release," Torres' manager Ken Pavia said in an interview on the Sherdog Radio Network.
The event, which took place in London, England, was not under the jurisdiction of a regulating body. The UFC conducted internal testing, as they have reportedly done in similar situations.
Torres, who competes out of Kailua, Hawaii, is the first fighter to test positive after a UFC-administered test. What this means for him is unclear. Since no commission oversaw the event, Torres will not be suspended or fined. However, UFC vice president Marc Ratner has said that the UFC will be informing athletic commissions of the positive result.
"I don't know if definitive measures are going to be taken," Pavia said. "Unrelated to the test, he becomes a free agent, and at that point what vested interest does the UFC have in punishing him further? He's not a member of their organization."
Junk submitted in UFC debut
Team MMA Development fighter Scott "Punk Haole" Junk made his UFC debut against Christian Wellisch (Pictures) on Sept. 22 as a late replacement for the injured Justin McCully (Pictures).
After refusing to touch gloves, Junk went to work scoring with his heavy hands. Once Wellisch got the fight to the ground with a single-leg takedown, though, it was only a matter of time before Junk found himself in danger of being submitted.
Wellisch immediately dropped back and latched onto Junk's leg, locking on a heel hook. Junk attempted to roll out of the submission to no avail, and he was forced to tap out with a painful scream at 3:19 of round one.
Junk, who was riding a six-fight winning streak after losing his pro debut via submission to Ricco Rodriguez (Pictures), fell to 6-2.