Posted on: Saturday, November 20, 2004

Super-sized mixed martial arts fighters ready to rumble

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

If you want more proof that tonight's Rumble on the Rock 6 mixed martial arts event is big, check out Wes Sims and Sean O'Hare.

Sims is a 6-foot-10, 251-pound former college basketball player. O'Hare is 6-6 and a chiseled 245 pounds, and a former WWE professional wrestler.

They will both fight on the undercard of tonight's event, although not against each other.

Hilo's BJ Penn will face Brazil's Rodrigo Gracie in the main event of what is being hyped as the biggest mixed martial arts event ever staged in Hawai'i.

"I like to think that all my fights were part of something big," Sims said. "But this one is definitely exciting. The fact that it's in Hawai'i makes it even more attractive."

Sims will face Antoni Hardonk of Holland in a heavyweight bout. Sims has a professional record of 5-5, and has become a fan favorite because of his size.

"My size always helps me," he said. "I have a longer reach and I have the better leverage."

Sims played basketball at Mount St. Joseph, an NCAA Division III program in Ohio, before taking up mixed martial arts.

"I'm a basketball player turned street fighter," he said. "You don't hear about too many of those, but when I'm in the ring, I'm long, strong and in charge."

O'Hare will face Japan's Shungo Oyama in another heavyweight fight.

It is O'Hare's second mixed martial arts fight since he left pro wrestling six months ago. He won his first bout by first-round submission.

"This is what's more enjoyable to me," O'Hare, 30, said. "It's a barbaric sport, but it's also scientific. There are both ends of the spectrum in this sport, that's what I like about it."

O'Hare has the size, strength and charisma to become a superstar in the sport.

"I can put (butts) in the seats, put it that way," he said. "I have the entertaining quality that I learned from wrestling, but I also like to think that I'm a pretty good fighter."

All 20 fighters on the card made their respective weights yesterday.

Penn weighed 180 pounds — the heaviest he's ever been for a fight; Gracie weighed 182.

Tonight's card:

185 pounds: Rodrigo Gracie (Brazil) vs. BJ Penn (Hawai'i). 250: Tom Howard (California) vs. Carter Williams (California). 155: Kazuyuki Miyata (Japan) vs. Royler Gracie (Brazil). 275: Yoshihiro Nakao (Japan) vs. Wesley "Cabbage" Correira (Hawai'i). 250: Shungo Oyama (Japan) vs. Sean O'Hare (California). 240: Juda Aalona (Hawai'i) vs. Aitor Canup (North Carolina). 225: Kristof Midoux (France) vs. Michael Buntenbah (Hawai'i). 250: Antoni Hardonk (Holland) vs. Wes Sims (Ohio). 180: Dennis Hallman (Washington) vs. Ross Ebanez (Hawai'i). 155: Gilbert Melendez (California) vs. Kaynan Kaku (Hawai'i).

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.