Somebody over at Icon knows what they’re doing. This mini-documentary on Chris Leben promises to be not only entertaining, but also very well done and effective at driving up interest in his bout with Michael Bisping at UFC 89.
On a related note, am I the only one who thinks that body surfing next to cliffs with sharks in the water is a bad idea for a pro athlete? Imagine Leben getting hurt and then trying to explain that one to Dana White.
Here’s the five-round stomp-n’-wheeze from Saturday night’s ICON Sport “To Hell and Back” event, where Kala Kolohe Hose overcame Phil Baroni’s soccer kicks (and breathtaking glam-guido ring entrance) to win the middleweight title. Major props to our new blood brothers at MMAVideosOnline for the hookup.
Kala Kolohe Hose roasted Phil Baroni like a pig at a luau (take that, Ranallo) last night at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, defeating the “New York Bad Ass” via TKO due to punches early into the fifth round and winning ICON Sport’s middleweight title. Baroni was dominant in the first round, taking the Hawaiian brawler to the mat right away and brutalizing him with strikes from the top. But Hose managed to hang in, and Baroni appeared gassed for the rest of the fight. In the second round, after Hose was warned for striking Baroni in the back of the head, Baroni leaned over with his hands on his knees and desperately sucked air; in the third round, he came out with his hands down. Hose pounded on Baroni through the third and fourth rounds, and at one point during the fourth, Baroni actually crawled under the bottom rope to escape the onslaught; he was deducted a point. Hose put Baroni out of his misery in the fifth, dropping the NYBA with a punch and finishing him on the ground. The fight was called at the 0:26 mark.
Baroni was attended to by paramedics before being taken to a hospital. As Baroni’s manager Ken Pavia told Sherdog, “Phil’s alert, he’s responsive. It was a tough fight, but he’ll physically be OK…I guess perhaps we underestimated his ability to get in shape in a short period of time, [Baroni] didn’t have it in the gas tank for five and Kala came up and fought a great fight.” Hose, who increased his record to 6-1, called the match “the best fight of my life.” Logically, his first title defense should be against former champion Robbie Lawler as soon as Lawler can get healthy.
We hadn’t heard of any of the other 24 fighters on the “To Hell and Back” card, but if you’re interested in the results, they’re after the jump.
Phil Baroni (10-9) and Kala Kolohe Hose (6-1) went toe-to-toe last night for the vacant Icon Sport middleweight title at the Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Hose stopped Baroni in the fifth round via TKO (Strikes) to claim the championship.
“The New York Bad Ass” looked dominant in the opening rounds using a strong wrestling and ground ‘n pound attack to batter the Hawaiian.
However, Baroni ran out of gas heading into round three and was barely able to answer the bell for the fifth. From there Baroni had no answer for anything Hose threw at him and dropped his third fight in his past four matches after succumbing to Hose.
Meanwhile, Hose extends his winning streak to six fights — all of which come by way of (T)KO.
Here are the complete results from last night’s event:
Kala Kolohe Hose defeats Phil Baroni in Round 5 by TKO (Strikes) Jeremy Williams defeats Auggie Padekan in Round 1 by KO Sadhu Bott defeats Bronson Pieper in Round 1 by Submission (Armbar) Russell Doane defeats Tyson Nam in Round 1 by TKO (Punches) Koa Ramos defeats Wayne Perrin in Round 1 by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) Ross Ebanez defeats Brennan Kamaka in Round 1 by KO P.J. Dean defeats Eddie Rincon by Unanimous Decision Matt Comeau defeats Elias Delos Reyes in Round 2 by TKO (Strikes) Alan Lima defeats David Padilla by Unanimous Decision Dwayne Haney defeats Zach Rapal in Round 1 by Submission (Guillotine Choke) Ricky Wallace defeats Brandon Pieper in Round 1 by Submission (Guillotine Choke) Nui Wheeler defeats Jay Bolos in Round 1 by Submission (Armbar) Kona Ke defeats Micah Ige in Round 1 by Submission (Rear Naked Choke)
To watch a FREE rebroadcast of the action head over to ProElite.com.
Note: This was written before the fights but I didn’t get a chance to post it until now.
Over the past year Robbie Lawler has been forced to back out of scheduled Icon Sport middleweight title defenses against Kala Kohole Hose more than once because of injuries.
The inactivity caused ProElite to strip Lawler of the belt and has led us to tonight where Hose (5-1) finally gets his shot at the gold against “The New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni (10-8) in his home state of Hawaii at Icon Sport: “To Hell and Back.”
The event will not be televised, but will be streamed for FREE on ProElite.com starting at 8 p.m. ET.
Baroni’s last fight was a title fight against Frank Shamrock back in June. He lost the fight and afterwards tested positive for steroids. Baroni has been serving a suspension stemming from that positive test and tonight will be his first fight back.
Hose has been waiting patiently for his shot at the Icon belt for the better part of a year now. The Hawaiian-based organization seems tailor made for the islander, with most of Icon’s show being held in the “Aloha State.”
The crowd will surely be behind Hose tonight and Hose should be able to feed off that energy.
It should be a slugfest from start to finish. Both guys have heavy hands and like to stand and trade. I think Hose has a little more power than Baroni since he is a naturally bigger guy, but this fight is a toss up.
I would say Hose has the advantage fighting at home, but Baroni plays the bad guy role as good as anyone and should be able to neutralize the “home ring advantage.”
This fight is going to come down to whoever lands the hardest cleanest punch, and I’m calling a win for Hose.
Prediction: Hose 1st round KO.
The Icon Sport featherweight title will also be on the line tonight when Sadhu Bott and Bronson Pieper clash. Both fighters are 2-0 fighting for Icon and this should be a fun fight to watch. Pieper has more power in the stand up game and I think he’ll catch Bott sometime late in the first round or early in the second.
Prediction: Pieper 2nd round tko.
The other fights on the card are as follows:
Jeremy Williams vs. Auggie Padekan: Williams is a converted boxer who is undefeated and Padekan is a submission expert. It’s a nice clash of styles.
Tyson Nam vs. Russell Doane: Nam is super quick and fun to watch
Ross Ebanez vs. Brennan Kamaka: We last saw Ebanez get knocked out by Eddie Alvarez at ShoXC in January. He’ll be looking to rebound in front of his home crowd.
And the undercard:
Wayne Perrin vs. Koa Ramos
P.J. Dean vs. Eddie Rincon
Matt Comeau vs. Elias De Los Reyes
Nui Wheeler vs. Jay Bolos
Alan Lima vs. David Padilla
Dwayne Haney vs. Zack Rapal
Colin MacKenzie vs. Ricky Wallace
Konale vs. Ikaika Moreno
Go to ProElite.com and sign up to be a member (it’s free) and you’ll be able to watch the fights starting at 8 p.m. ET. It should be a fun card. We all know the Hawaiians like to fight and there are plenty of them on this card.
Baroni: “Ain’t no Hawaiian guy that’s gonna beat me. Dudes wish they were me, chicks wish they were with me.” Hose: “[unintelligible]”
By the way, is this what anchormen in Hawaii really look like? Did we just catch this guy on casual Friday? Our ears are still ringing from that shirt.
Also, here’s Rampage Jackson and Forrest Griffin chatting about their July title fight on Inside MMA. Quinton passes out from boredom at 2:40.
I think I know what this show needs: a live studio audience. Applause for new guests and scattered chuckles at the weak jokes would really fill those dead spaces.
Oh, and if you’re interested, here’s Chris Leben biting through a two-liter bottle of Diet Pepsi and then barfing. Good times.
Phil Baroni and Kala Kolohe Hose will clash for the vacant Icon Sport middleweight title this Saturday (March 15) at the Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. This event is FREE to watch online at ProElite.com beginning at 8 p.m. ET — it’s going to be a sweet main event. Unsurprisingly, Baroni is talking a ton of trash, which doesn’t seem to phase the very laid-back Hawaiian.
