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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, December 2, 2006

Trigg stops Miller to win title

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Jason "Mayhem" Miller received a lesson in Triggonomics last night.

Frank Trigg overpowered the fan-favorite Miller in the main event of the Icon Sport: Unstoppable mixed martial arts card last night.

A crowd of around 6,000 at the Blaisdell Center Arena was sent home in stunned silence as Miller lost for the first time in nine fights in Hawai'i.

Trigg, who came out of an announced retirement for the bout, took the Icon Sport's middleweight (185 pounds) world championship from Miller.

"Jason Miller is a technician; I'm a brawler," Trigg said. "That's what it came down to."

Indeed, Trigg won it by technical knockout after unleashing a series of punches and kicks on a downed and defenseless Miller. The referee stopped the bout 2 minutes, 53 seconds into the second round.

"One of my gifts from my parents is my strength," Trigg said. "I'm usually stronger than the guys I go against and that was the case again tonight."

Miller, who ended the bout with a bloodied face, said: "I took some lickins, but I'd like a rematch."

The two fighters traded control early, but Trigg ended the first round by punishing Miller with punches and kicks to the face, opening a cut near Miller's right eye. Trigg then dropped Miller in the second round with several punch combinations before pouncing in for his finishing flurry.

Trigg, who is originally from New York but trains in Las Vegas, improved to 14-5; Miller dropped to 17-5.

"Mayhem is one of the greatest champions we've ever had, and I guarantee he will come back," Icon Sport president T. Jay Thompson said. "But this opens up so many storylines."

Thompson said the candidates to next face Trigg for the title are Miller in a rematch, former champion Robbie Lawler, and Renato "Charuto" Verissimo. The next Icon Sport card is in February, but Trigg has six months to defend the title.

In one of the semi-main events, Hawai'i's Sidney Silva defeated Jay Jack of Maine with a triangle-choke submission, 2:30 into the first round, to win the vacant North American championship in the welterweight division (170 pounds).

Silva, who is originally from Brazil but has been residing in Honolulu since 1999, improved to 6-1. Jack dropped to 12-7.

The victory was a somewhat of an upset in that Silva used a jiu-jitsu move to submit Jack. Silva is a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu; Jack is a black belt.

In the other semi-main event, Mark Oshiro defeated Tyson Nam by first-round TKO to win the vacant Hawai'i championship in the flyweight division (135 pounds). Oshiro dropped Nam with a right-hand hook to the face, then unleashed more punches before the referee stopped the bout, 2:16 after the opening bell.

Oshiro improved to 11-1; Nam,dropped to 3-1.

UNDERCARD RESULTS

205: Jeremy Williams def. Ron Fields by TKO punches, 0:37 into second round. 160: Marshall Harvest def. Kyle Miyahana by decision. 160: Chris Cisneros def. David Padilla by armbar submission, 1:16 into second round. 135: Paul Gorman def. Ikaika Silva by armbar submission, 2:10 into first round. 210: Maui Wolfgram def. Ben Fonoti by armbar submission, 2:43 into first round. 145: Bronson Piper def. Vinny Delos Santos by TKO, first round. 195: Ron Verdadero def. Kekoa Baker by TKO punches, 1:36 into first round. 145: Sadhu Bott def. Lorenzo Moreno by decision. Heavyweight (kickboxing): Chavis Victoria def. Jacob Cook by decision. 165 (kickboxing): Todd Young def. Ben Santiago by decision.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.