Today was a very windy and rainy day, but we were spared of heavy rains while the press conference was going on. Promoters Helen Miller and Herb Tantan welcomed everyone to the event and started off with Egan Inoue explaining the injury that caused him to have to pull out of the fight. Inoue broke his middle finger against Doerkson in the last Super Brawl. Egan commented that Hallman probably wants him to say something nice about him, but he just told the audience to look at his broken finger (flipping the bird). Hallman was next and greeted Egan in the same fashion. He was disappointed that he was not fighting Egan, but looked forward to Bitetti saying that he does not run away from the fight like "others" he has fought in the past. Hallman looked bigger than Egan and said he is about 188 lbs right now.

Local favorite, Wesley "Cabbage" Correira was up next and said that he is going to get revenge for the loss that his opponent Aaron Brink gave to his teammate Dennis Tadio. Egan’s "little" brother Enson stated that he probably could not top Cabbage’s trash talk, but stated that his fighters are excited about fighting outside of Japan and he thinks they are ready.

In order to help the local community, Helen Miller announced that they have teamed up with the Hawaii Food Bank and will be accepting a donation of canned goods at the event.

American Kickboxing fighter, Josh Thompson told everyone about his friend and sparring partner, UFC Veteran Brian Johnston who broke a blood vessel in his neck that caused a stroke. Johnston spent three months in the hospital and just came home about three weeks ago and is still in a wheelchair. Unfortunately, Johnston is not covered by the New Japan’s medical insurance and has a ton of medical bills. American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) raised money to make t-shirts to sell in order for Johnston to raise money for his medical bills. The shirts are $20 so make sure that you pick up a shirt and help support this courageous fighter.

Finally, Herb Tantan completed the press conference by explaining that the fights will be held in a cage and that cages are much safer than rings. The fighters will not fall out of the cage like they can in a regular ring. The fighters look confident and ready to kick off this inaugural Shogun event at the Hawaii Convention Center which is another first as far as Hawaii mixed martial arts venues.

On a side note, headliner Dennis Hallman broke off of Matt Hume’s AMC school and is on his own. I asked him about it and you can find out the background behind this breakup if you subscribe to Full Contact Fighter. How’s that for some suspense?

Shogun Fight Card for December 15^th:

1. Main Event Fight (170-184.9lbs)
   Amaury Bitetti (Oswaldo Alves) vs. Dennis Hallman (Victory Athletics)

2. World Featherweight TITLE (125-134.9 lbs)
   Baret Yoshida (Grappling Unlimited) vs. Caleb Mitchell (Cesar Gracie)

3. Heavyweight Fight (205-264.9lbs)
   Aaron Brink (SLO Kickboxing) vs. Wesley "Cabbage" Coreirra (Grappling Unlimited)

4. Heavyweight Contender Fight (205-259.9lbs)
   TBA vs. Paul Buentello (AKA)

5. Lightweight Fight (145-154.9lbs)
   Yves Edwards (The 3rd Column) vs. Kultar Gill (Team Gibson Pankration)

6. Welterweight Fight (155-169.9lbs)
   Duane “Bang” Ludwig (3D) vs. Thomas "Wildman" Denny (Team Wildman/RAW)

7. Featherweight Contender Fight (135-144.9lbs)
   Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto (Purebred) vs. Josh Thompson (AKA)

8. Middleweight Fight (170-184.9lbs)
   Martin Armendarez (Cesar Gracie) vs. Tony Fryklund (Miletich Fighting Systems)

9. Featherweight Fight (135-144.9lbs)
   Makoto Ishikawa (Purebred) vs. Dave Velasquez (AKA)

10. Welterweight Contender Fight (155-169.9lbs)
    “Shogun” Kawakatsu (Purebred) vs. Robbie Lawler (Miletich Fighting Systems)

11. Heavyweight Fight (205-259.9lbs)
    Dennis “the Menace” Tadio (Grappling Unlimited) vs. Christian Wellisch (AKA)

12. Welterweight Fight (155-169.9lbs)
    Cruz Gomez (SLO Kickboxing) vs. Abe Rodriguez (Grappling Unlimited)