HONOLULU, Oct. 6 -- The Ohio-based Gracie Fighting Championships made its initial foray into the Hawaiian market Saturday night with Gracie Proving Ground at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena.
The two fighters took the center of the ring and engaged in what was for the most part a striking battle. Ramos stayed busy with combinations and a left low kick, and Gracie worked a left jab that found its mark.
"He definitely got me with a nice jab," Ramos said after the fight. "That's what got me going."
Gracie closed the distance on occasion, but Ramos worked hard to control the grappler's upper body and maintain underhooks that helped him avoid the takedown.
Still on the feet, Ramos continued to stalk his opponent. Then, after backing the young Gracie into the corner, he unloaded a well-timed two-punch combination.
"I feinted the left and saw him stay low, so I came back with the right," Ramos said.
The short right hand from the Eastsidaz fighter landed squarely on his opponent's chin, and Gracie fell stiffly to his back. Ramos quickly followed up with punches until the referee pulled him off at 2:44 of the first round.
"It still hasn't sunk in yet," Ramos said. "It's an unreal feeling."
The night's co-main event featured a rematch between 808 Fight Factory's Harris "The Hitman" Sarmiento and the B.J. Penn (Pictures)-trained "Sugar" Shane Nelson.
Though Sarmiento may have bested his opponent in 2005, tonight it was Nelson who got the judges' nod after a hard-fought fifteen minutes.
Sarmiento stayed busy on his feet in the bout's 10-minute opening period, landing numerous kicks to the body and legs while trying to avoid the takedown.
"The Hitman" employed a good sprawl and avoided being taken to the floor on Nelson's first few attempts, but the Nova Uniao grappler eventually got the fight where he wanted it by grabbing Sarmiento around the waist and dragging him down. From there Nelson worked from half-guard until the round ended.
The second round started with Sarmiento again getting the better of the stand-up, including a beautiful flying knee. Nelson, however, again took the fight to the canvas. Sarmiento made the best of the time spent on his back, staying busy with punches from the bottom until the final bell sounded.
After the unanimous decision was announced in Nelson's favor, the arena was showered in boos.
"I feel like I got robbed," Sarmiento told Sherdog.com after the fight. "He wasn't doing any damage."
But Nelson, who felt his superior position throughout the fight was enough to win, disagreed.
"I took the fight where I wanted it to be," Nelson said. "He didn't want to be on the floor, and I took him there."
The night's fastest knockout came at the hands of Bryson Kamaka (Pictures), who took out Israel Gomes just 13 seconds into the bout.
The two briefly circled before Kamaka charged forward with a straight right hand that landed flush and sent Gomes to the ground, where Kamaka finished him with hammerfists.
The Relson Gracie-trained Jeremiah O'Neal grabbed a high single and slammed opponent David Padilla (Pictures) to the canvas in the opening period before eventually latching on a guillotine choke at 6:15.
Nova Uniao fighter Chris Henriques scored a first-round submission over the Eastsidaz Kimo Wolfel with an armbar from the bottom. Wolfel attempted to punch his way out, landing a number of strikes to his opponent's face, but he was ultimately forced to tap out at 2:16.
Kickboxer Billy Hall won a controversial split decision over Relson Gracie student Fabio Prada. Hall controlled the stand-up, connecting with a plethora of kicks throughout the 15-minute fight, but Prada seemed to control the majority of the match by scoring takedowns and working from half-guard.
Newcomer Michael Brightmon put on another dominant performance, using his wrestling and a solid ground-and-pound game plan to defeat Ron Verdadero. Brightmon also scored in the first frame with a knockdown and used the opportunity to take the mount.
Verdadero rallied in the final minutes of the fight, landing unanswered strikes on a cornered Brightmon.
"He caught me twice, and I was definitely hurt," Brightmon said. "I knew I had to defend myself, so I started using a fast and accurate jab."
Brightmon survived the remaining moments in the round and went on to win the unanimous decision.
Also on the card, Pono Pananganan outpointed Team Quest fighter Ferrid Kheder.
Relson Gracie fighter David Chew took down Kevin Grace and quickly moved to side control, then mount and eventually to back mount, where he sunk in a rear-naked choke at 5:55 of the first round.
Kana Hyatt, who took the fight on 30 minutes' notice, landed a flying knee and then knocked out Duke Sarigosa with a powerful right hand 1:43 into the first round.
Gerald Arevalo of 808 Fight Factory slammed Vanoscar Penvaroff early, but he ended up on the wrong side of a submission when Penvaroff worked in a tight guillotine choke at 3:11 of round one.
Team Quest's Brian Harper worked off an early takedown and delivered a knee to the head of James Stanford. He then moved to mount and latched on a guillotine choke 1:56 into the opening frame.
Daniel Devers got the better of an early stand-up exchange with Dean Lista before being caught in a rear-naked choke that caused the referee to stop the fight at 6:49 of round one. Replays showed that the stoppage might have been a bit premature, as it wasn't apparent that Devers tapped out.
In the event's opening bout, Kaika Sasaoka took the fight to Jodi Mesiona, landing leg kicks and a flying knee before securing a beautiful armbar from the back mount at 3:48 of the first round.