Rematch looms in Galaxy not far away
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
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Perhaps the Galaxy MMA organization already has a title for its next professional card: Rematch.
The main event of Saturday's Galaxy MMA: Worlds Collide mixed martial arts card ended after just 27 seconds due to an unintentional low-blow kick by Brazil's Fabiano Scherner to Kailua's Scott Junk.
The bout — which was scheduled for three 5-minute rounds in the heavyweight division — was ruled a no-contest.
"I'd like to see if we can make it happen again, for sure," Galaxy MMA president Mark Pang said. "It's really unfortunate, but things like that happen in this sport sometimes."
A crowd of around 1,500 at the Blaisdell Center Arena left disappointed at the uneventful conclusion, but the injury was apparently serious enough to keep Junk in a hospital for several hours.
Junk said he had internal bleeding due to a severe contusion to one of his testicles.
"I just have to rest for the next couple days and hope it goes away," he said. "If not, the doctors said I might need surgery."
Once he's healed, Junk said he would like to start training for a rematch with Scherner.
"I would love to do it, and do it as soon as possible," Junk said. "I was fully prepared for this fight, and to have it end with a freak thing like that really sucks."
Junk and Scherner agreed that the low blow was unintentional.
"I threw my jab, and so when I stepped forward, that opened up my legs," Junk said. "Fabiano was doing a front-leg (kick) and it just caught me in the wrong place."
Scherner accepted the blame, but said the kick was aimed for Junk's leg.
"I'm really sorry for everybody — coaches, Junk, promoters, fans," Scherner said. "I came here to fight and show everybody why I came here."
Scherner said he would accept a rematch with Junk in Hawai'i.
"I want to and I think (Junk) wants to," he said.
Junk, who has a record of 6-2-1, was fighting for the first time since sustaining an eye injury last year. The injury occurred during filming of the television reality series "The Ultimate Fighter."
"I don't know what it is with these freak injuries," he said. "But I'm not ready to give up."
Both fighters were paid, but a win bonus was withheld. Salaries for the fighters were not disclosed.
"I felt like I was going to win this fight, so to not get that win bonus, that's like money out of my pocket," Junk said.
The co-main event between Waialua's Keola Silva and Wahiawā's Tyson Nam may have also set up a rematch, but for different reasons.
Silva defeated Nam via split decision in the bantamweight (135 pounds) bout. It was action-packed for all three rounds, and featured a contrast in styles.
Silva relied on wrestling takedowns to score points, while Nam relied on striking. Silva scored aggressive takedowns in each round, but Nam dropped Silva with a punch in the second round.
"To tell you the truth, he must have caught me good because I don't remember him hitting me," Silva said.
Silva, who is an elementary school teacher and wrestling coach at Kamehameha, improved to 2-0 as a professional after a decorated amateur career.
One judge scored it 30-27 in favor of Nam; the other two judges scored it 29-28 in favor of Silva.
"That was a really, really tough decision — could have gone either way," Pang said. "So maybe we do have to get them back together in the future."
Saturday was Galaxy MMA's first professional card, and Pang said he is committed to promoting at least two more shows.
"This was our first promotion, so we learned a lot and saw a lot of things we can improve," Pang said.
Silva said he would like to fight for the organization again, whether it be against Nam or someone else.
"I'm happy to be fighting for Galaxy because they're legit," he said. "I know Mark (Pang). He's not out to make a quick buck. He's here to promote the sport."
Pang said Galaxy MMA's next show is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 7.