Posted on: Friday, July 9, 2004

Fight Night at Blaisdell

Advertiser Staff

Nearly 20 fighters will compete in tonight's "Soljah Fight Night — A Shooto Double World Championship" mixed martial arts event.

Three world champions, Masanori Suda of Japan and Brazil's Alexandre Franca Noguiera and Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro, highlight the event. Hawai'i fighters Ray "Bradda" Cooper and Stephen "Bozo" Paling also will be competing in the 6 p.m. card at the Blaisdell Arena.

Nine division titles will be up for grabs with Cooper fighting Jake Shields of the United States for the middleweight championship and Paling facing Jens Pulver of the United States in a lightweight bout.

Competitors were weighed in yesterday at Hard Rock Cafe.

A portion of the proceeds from Soljah Fight Night will benefit the Hawai'i National Guard Youth Challenge Academy. The YCA assists at-risk 16- to 18-year-olds in obtaining their high school diploma.

Shooto is a contemporary martial art developed during the early 1980s in Japan.