Falaniko Vitale was willing to fight off mountain lions in Washington a few weeks ago.

Taking that into consideration, fighting Jason "Mayhem" Miller tomorrow shouldn't be so bad.

Vitale is back in Hawai'i this week after a seven-week training session with the American Martial Arts Center (AMC) in Kirkland, Wash. He will take on Miller in the main event of the Icon Sport mixed martial arts card at the Blaisdell Arena (Icon Sport is the new title of the organization formerly known as Super Brawl).

"It was a rude awakening," Vitale said of his training in Washington. "I always tried to stay in shape before, but I wasn't even close to being in the kind of shape they wanted me up there."

Vitale, a Waipahu High graduate who now resides in 'Ewa, opted to train there following a knockout loss to Iowa's Robbie Lawler in July.

The AMC school is run by internationally known coach Matt Hume.

"I learned something new almost every single day with Matt," Vitale said. "I knew the training was going to be hard, and I knew the talent level up there was going to be high, but I was still amazed at how much I learned."

Vitale was not exactly a pushover before going to Washington. He is 20-4, and is considered Hawai'i's best fighter at 185 pounds.

But Hume and his staff treated Vitale like any other newcomer to their gym.

Brad Kertson, an assistant trainer at AMC, said Vitale "had a rough time the first few days because he wasn't used to working like that."

The daily training included two sessions — one in the morning and one at night — for a total of six to eight hours a day.

"I was dying the first two weeks," Vitale said. "I thought about quitting. My whole body was sore and I couldn't recover fast enough. But Matt told me to stick with it and my body would get used to it, and sure enough, my body got used to it."

Some of the cardiovascular work included pushing a tractor tire up and down an isolated road, running up and down the stairs of the University of Washington's Husky Stadium while carrying sandbags, and running along isolated mountain trails.

During one of those mountain runs, Vitale realized he was no longer training in Hawai'i.

"I came across a dead deer, and everybody told me before to watch out for mountain lions," he said. "But I didn't want to stop, so I picked up the biggest rock I could find, just in case. The instincts just kicked in, and I kept running as fast as I could with that rock in my hand."

Vitale also spent dozens of hours in the gym, working on aspects of the sport he didn't even know existed.

"Even a simple thing like breathing," he said. "I learned how that can help me."

Kertson said: "He already had a great game, so our job was to add to it, give him some new stuff that his opponents have never seen."

Vitale worked equally on stand-up fighting and ground grappling. "Basically, he's ready for anything," Kertson said.

If there is an opponent who can give anything, it's Miller.

Miller is originally from Atlanta, but he trains mostly in Las Vegas. He is 13-4, including 5-0 in Hawai'i.

The winner of tomorrow's match is expected to receive a championship bout against Lawler.

"His game plan is to get in your head and take away your focus," Vitale said of the boisterous Miller. "After all I went through, I'm not going to let him do that. It's going to be all business."

Hume's wife is expected to give birth this week, so he will not be in Vitale's corner.

"That won't be a factor," said Kertson, who will be Vitale's main corner man. "All the training is done. Niko knows what to do from here on out."

Vitale said his family is enough incentive. While Vitale was training in Washington, his wife, Mandy, stayed in 'Ewa to take care of their two daughters.

"That was the hardest part, but that's also what kept me going," he said. "Every time I thought about quitting, I thought about my family and how I couldn't go back home empty-handed. I'm doing this for them."

PRELIMINARY BOUTS

K.J. Noons vs. Harris Sarmiento; Nick Ring vs. Mike Malone; Steve Byrnes vs. Bob Ostovich; Kimo Woelfel vs. Aaron Rose; Harvey Nakamura vs. Ryan Lee; Lyle Nicely vs. Billy Hall; Chico Cantiberos vs. Kevin DeLima; Brian Wiehle vs. Jose Fernandez; Makana Albino vs. Bryce Martinez; Ikaika Choy-Fu vs. Lorenzo Moreno.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.