MMA
Noons knocks out Edwards to keep title
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Photo gallery: Mixed Martial Arts |
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
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A mixed martial arts card promoted as "Return of the King" finished with a royal knockout.
K.J. "King Karl" Noons successfully defended his EliteXC lightweight world championship with a first-round TKO of Yves Edwards yesterday at the Blaisdell Center Arena.
Noons — who was raised in Kailua, Kona, but now resides in San Diego — improved to 6-1, with all six of his victories via knockout.
"I'm overwhelmed," he said. "Never give up — that's what I live by."
Noons is an active professional in both boxing and MMA, and his punching power was on display yesterday.
He dropped Edwards with a straight right to the chin, then pounced on Edwards and unleashed a series of elbows and punches.
The referee stopped it 48 seconds into the round. It was scheduled for five 5-minute rounds.
Noons said the ending flurry started when Edwards landed a punch of his own.
"He caught me ... he thought he might have shook me," Noons said. "So as I was starting to back up, I think he was coming in a little carelessly. I stepped back and countered with the straight right and I rocked him. I had to capitalize on that."
The bout was televised nationally on the Showtime cable network.
Edwards, who is from Texas, dropped to 34-14-1.
The action in the cage after the bout lasted longer. A brief scuffle ensued when California's Nick Diaz entered to ask Noons for a title shot.
"Don't be scared, homey," Diaz said, igniting a shoving match between the camps.
Noons said: "He's got no class ... I'll fight whoever. I got the belt. I don't care if it's Nick Diaz or his brother, Nate Diaz. If K.J. Noons fights, it's going to be exciting."
Noons defeated Nick Diaz for the vacant lightweight (160 pounds) title last November in Texas.
Diaz improved to 17-7 with a third-round TKO win over South Carolina's Muhsin Corrbrey in yesterday's semi-main event.
Diaz was allowed to fight only because Corrbrey agreed to a heavier weight on Friday. Diaz weighed 169 pounds, and it was supposed to be in the 160-pound division.
"He didn't even make the weight; he's a clown," Noons said of Diaz.
In other feature bouts televised on Showtime:
Rua finished Bonello with punches, and the referee stopped it 3:16 into the first round.
Herman landed a knee to Waterman's midsection, then finished it with punches to the head. The referee stopped it 2:19 into the first round.
Bubba McDaniel of Texas earned a stunning first-round victory over Wai'anae's Kala Kolohe Hose to highlight the undercard.
McDaniel (12-4) worked his way to Hose's back, then applied a rear-naked choke. Hose (6-2) submitted 41 seconds into the first round.
"The rear-naked choke is my weakness," Hose said. "But I kind of helped him out. I made a mistake by crossing over his back instead of going under."
Hose is the Icon Sport middleweight champion, but that title was not on the line. McDaniel said he would like to take the victory and run.
"I didn't want to stand and bang with him for a reason — I didn't want to get knocked out," McDaniel said. "But Kala is a classy champion, and he deserves to be the champ here. I don't want to take the title away."
Hose beat New York's Phil Baroni for the championship in March. McDaniel said he would be willing to fight Baroni.
"Now that's an option," he said.
Also on the undercard:
Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.
