Posted at 11:10 p.m., Friday, February 9, 2007
Mixed martial arts main event decked by food poisoning
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
A crowd of around 2,500 at the Blaisdell Center Arena watched Verissimo and Junk make successful debuts in the Icon Sport organization.
The scheduled main event between Robbie Lawler of Iowa and Trevor Garrett of Ohio was canceled because Lawler was suffering from food poisoning.
Icon Sport president T. Jay Thompson said Lawler will remain the No. 1 contender in the middleweight division (185 pounds), and could get a title shot against champion Frank Trigg in March or April.
Verissimo may also soon be in title contention in the middleweight division based on his impressive victory over Kris Fleurestil last night. Verissimo worked Fleurestil to the ground, and then unleashed a series of unanswered punches, prompting the referee to stop the bout, 2 minutes, 19 seconds into the first round.
Junk scored one of the fastest knockouts in Icon Sport history, dropping John George with a straight right hand, 10 seconds into the heavyweight bout.
In another bout, Bronson Pieper of Waianae defeated Chico Cantiberos by first-round knockout to win the state championship in the 145-pound class.
Other results
205 pounds: Jeremy Williams def. Derek Thornton by choke submission, 1:48 first round. 170: Mark Moreno def. Sam Jackson by KO kick, 0:24 first round. 150: Jerome Kekumu def. Mike Balasi by split decision. Heavyweight: Randy Lueder def. Ron Fields by unanimous decision. 195: Kala Kolohe Hose def. Kekoa Baker by TKO punches, 1:10 first round. 145: Sadhu Bott def. Peni Taufa'ao by rear-naked choke, 1:24 second round. 160: Justin Bucholz def. Brandon Pieper by TKO punches, 1:53 first round. Heavyweight: Richard Desforge def. Allen Lau by TKO punches, 1:33 second round. 140: Devon Chong def. Isaiah Cobb-Adams by armbar submission, 1:40 first round.
