With UFC 44 fast approaching, we’d like your opinions on who will win each of the scheduled fights. The results of the survey and some of the commentary we receive may appear in the upcoming issue of FCF.

Lee armbarring Tolentino

MMA returned to Maui and once again provided a venue for up and comers to gain experience. A lot of people forget that good fighters are not born, they are made. That is why if we all want the sport of MMA to grow, we need to support events like Warriors of the Ring which provides a place for fighters to test their skills against opponents that are on the same level in a safe environment. Maui MMA fans are increasing in numbers and becoming educated with every event. I always enjoy events where new fighters compete because they come out to fight and do not look to "protect" their records like some journeymen fighters do. They come out to bang and that is exactly what they did. The event started out a couple of very young fighters starting up the crowd with some amateur boxing. These kids showed skills well beyond their years. In every match that followed, the fighters came out like bats out of hell and really went after each other. Some of the highlights were Tavini Sulusi’s KO of John Quinlan, Ryan Lee’s aggressive guard that he used to secure Eric Tolentino’s arm, and the crowd being jarred by Billianor’s dislocated elbow which occurred early in the match. The crowd was then treated to four warriors going at it in the last two matches. Sariento controlled his match with Ishimine, but Ishimine was still in the fight all the way to the end. And Moreno showed a lot of heart in his fight with Hinojesa. Hinojesa has a lot of talent, look for him and his teammate Ishimine to make some waves in the future. The next Warriors of the Ring will break in the New Year by having a show on January 25, 2004.

Exhibition Bout: Amateur Kickboxing: 3 Rounds – 1 Minute
Jacob Carlos vs. Keola McKee

Exhibition Bout: Amateur Kickboxing: 3 Rounds – 1 Minute
Thomas Kahoohanohano vs. Casey Ladore

MMA: 3 Rounds – 3 Minutes
Josh Kamalo def. Joe Estrella
Verbal submission due to strikes at 4:21 into R1

Tavini Sulusi (Maui Full Contact Fighting) def. John Quinlan
KO at 0:11 into R1

Warren Miguel (Maui Full Contact Fighting) def. Lucky Keefner
Split decision [(29-28), (28-29), (29-28)] after 3 rounds

Ryan Lee (Bulls Pen) def. Eric Tolentino
Submission via arm bar from the guard at 1:14 into R1

Matt Mozzoca def. Anthony Billianor (Maui Full Contact Fighting)
TKO due to injury when Billianor dislocated his elbow at 0:30 into R1

Semi-Main Event:
Harris Sariento (808 Fight Factory) def. Lorrin Ishimine (Maui Full Contact Fighting)
Unanimous decision [(30-27), (30-27), (30-27)] after 3 rounds