LOOKING FORWARD TO HAWAII MMA FIGHTERS AT UFC 145 JONES VS EVANS

By Romeo Cabras Jr.:

Now that the UFC is back in full swing after what seemed like an eternity, a full 6 weeks to be exact, we focus our attention to this weeks fight card featuring two fighters with strong ties to Hawaii!! That’s right, people from Hawaii will have more to look forward to with these fighters representing the aloha state, where pride, heart, and fighting have become such a huge part of locals daily lives.

Hilo born Eddie “The Filipino Phenom” Yagin will lock horns with Canada’s Mark Hominick on the events main card. After winning the Tachi Palace Fights featherweight championship with a first round guillotine choke over Joe Soto last August, “The Filipino Phenom” signed with the UFC making his debut just 7 weeks later at UFC 135. Dropping a decision to Brazilian Junior Assuncao, Yagin looks for his first win in the always action packed UFC featherweight division.

Mark “the machine” Hominick is looking to get back in the win column after suffering back-to-back loses. After losing a 5 round decision to featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo at UFC 129, which earned fight of the night honors, “The Machine” was KO’d in 7 seconds by Chan Sung Jung at UFC 140 in December. With those fights behind him, he is focused and not looking past his fight with Yagin.

Knowing what is at stake, these two will be looking for the finish. Possible FOTN?

Our second Hawaii born fighter goes by the nickname “Hapa”. Travis Browne. Compiling a record of 12-0-1, (with his lone draw coming from the likes of Cheick Kongo at UFC 120), he made his debut at The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs Team Ortiz Finale having picked up a TKO victory over James McSweeny. “Hapa” earned knockout of the night award with a superman punch against Stefan Struve at UFC 130 and last appeared with a decision win at UFC 135 over Rob Broughton. He welcomes former Strikeforce heavyweight Chad Griggs.

Chad Griggs is a 3 time Strikeforce winner and former IFL fighter competed with the Tucson Scorpions. He has won his last 6 fights dating back to 2007, with two bouts in 2011 under the Strikeforce banner. With the dissolution of the Strikeforce heavyweight division, Griggs transitioned to the UFC earlier this year looking for a win at the big show.

This heavy handed fight will be part of the preliminary card shown on FX.

The last time Yagin and Hapa competed, they were on the same fight card at UFC 135. Its good to know they will represent the pride of the islands throughout the week, and come fight night, feed off the energy we will show, that is Hawaii.

Will Hawaii fighters go 2-0 this weekend?

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