Rumble On The Rock 4.5:
Proving Grounds
Edith Kanakaole Tennis Stadium, Hilo, Hawaii
December 27, 2003
By Chris Onzuka

Bickers KO’d

Rumble went back to the town that it originated, Hilo, Hawaii and brought in some of the best production ever seen in Hawaii for an MMA event. Light racks, two large screens, an entrance ramp, smoke, fighter video introductions and instant replay treated those who were in attendance at this event. The event brought a full card of twelve matches and played the entire match between BJ Penn and Takanori Gomi. The action started off with a 4-man lightweight tournament with a fighter from BJ Penn’s academy and a fighter from Oahu’s 808 Fight Factory meeting in the finals. Some of the highlights were the war between Villapondo and Castro with tons of reversals and even though Villapondo controlled the match, you had the feeling that Castro could steal it from Villapondo at any moment. Another came via KO from the hands of Abraham Cortes-Kalaupa being delivered to Gaven Mata. The finals of the lightweight tournament was also a war when Villapondo fought off Robison’s take down attempts or was able to fight his way back up to his feet and pounded Robison, while Robison was relentless with his take down attempts and had Villapondo in some bad positions, keeping Villapondo on his toes for the entire fight. The Sonnen-Moore fight was pretty uneventful, with Sonnen peppering Moore for the whole fight and Moore getting a few take downs, but not capitalizing on the positioning. The judges made an error awarding the decision to Moore only for the fight to be reviewed on tape at the request of Sonnen, causing them to reverse their position on the fight, giving Sonnen the victory.

Lightweight Tournament Semi-Finals:
2 Rounds – 5 Minutes:
Abraham Robison (BJ Penn’s MMAA) def. Jerry Saribay (Bull’s Pen)
Submission due to rear-naked choke at 3:00 into R1.

Lightweight Tournament Semi-Finals:
2 Rounds – 5 Minutes:
Robert Villapondo (808 Fight Factory) def. Ashton Castro (Young Guns DeLuta Club)
Unanimous Decision [(20-17), (20-17), (20-17)] after 2 rounds.

2 Rounds – 5 Minutes:
Paul Laga (Bull’s Pen) def. Eric Beach (BJ Penn’s MMAA)
TKO, Beach could not return for R2.

2 Rounds – 5 Minutes:
Abraham Cortes-Kalaupa (BJ Penn’s MMAA) def. Gavin Mata (Shirotaka Kenpo & Kajukenbo)
KO (right upper cut) at 1:27 into R1.

2 Rounds – 5 Minutes:
Mark Rodriguez (Rudy Valentino) def. Pete Sefo (808 Fight Factory)
Verbal submission due to strikes from the cross position at 0:20 into R2.

2 Rounds – 5 Minutes:
DJ Delfin (BJ Penn’s MMAA) def. Eric Devers (Shirotaka Kenpo & Kajukenbo)
TKO, referee stoppage due to rear naked choke (Devers was about to go unconscious) at 0:49 into R1.

2 Rounds – 5 Minutes:
Mike Aina (BJ Penn’s MMAA) def. Mike Bickers (Vendrell’s Martial Arts)
KO (right hook) at 0:22 into R2.

Pro-X Division: 3 Rounds – 3 Minutes (no grappling)
Kaleo Padilla (Koden Kan/Kona Boxing) def. Mark Moreno (Bull’s Pen)
Unanimous Decision [(30-26), (30-26), (30-27)] after 3 rounds.

2 Rounds – 5 Minutes:
Kaynan Kaku (BJ Penn’s MMAA) def. Harris Sarmiento (808 Fight Factory)
Unanimous Decision [(20-18), (20-18), (20-18)] after 2 rounds.

Lightweight Tournament Finals
Tournament Finals:
2 Rounds – 5 Minutes:
Robert Villapondo (808 Fight Factory) def. Abraham Robison (BJ Penn’s MMAA)
Majority Decision [(20-17), (20-18), (19-19)] after 2 rounds.

Semi Main:
2 Rounds – 5 Minutes:
Ross Ebanez (BJ Penn’s MMAA) def. Shawn Beckett (Fusion Fight Team)
Unanimous Decision [(20-18), (20-18), (20-18)] after 2 rounds.

Main Event:
2 Rounds – 5 Minutes:
Chael Sonnen (Team Quest) def. Homer Moore (Brausa Academy)
Unanimous Decision [(20-18), (20-18), (20-18)] after 2 rounds.