Tag: ProElite 3

‘ProElite 3: Grove vs. Minowa’: Simply Put, It Was an Improvement

Brent Schermerhorn vs. Kaleo Gambill, the lone knockout from the main card. All videos props to IronForgesIron.com

When we last checked in on ProElite, the promotion was in the midst of a heavyweight grand prix that had the announcer for the evening tweeting mid-bout that he was falling asleep. Mix in unimpressive victories for Tim Sylvia and Andre Arlovski, and a disappointing performance from Reagan Penn, and the phrase “rock bottom” comes to mind. Things could have gotten more boring, sure. But if they did, we wouldn’t waste time telling you about it.

Needless to say ProElite’s third installment, which took place last night in Hawaii, was a step in the right direction. While the main event and co-main event were nothing to write home about, the card saw some entertaining fights and quick finishes.

In the evening’s main event, Minowa started out strong, landing leg kicks against Kendall Grove and securing a takedown at the end of the round. However, Grove was able to find his range by the second round, and outpointed Minowa en route to a unanimous decision. We don’t know how much time Minowa spent training against a person sitting on someone else’s shoulders poking at him with sticks in preparation for his American debut, but our guess is “not enough”.


Brent Schermerhorn vs. Kaleo Gambill, the lone knockout from the main card. All videos props to IronForgesIron.com

When we last checked in on ProElite, the promotion was in the midst of a heavyweight grand prix that had the announcer for the evening tweeting mid-bout that he was falling asleep. Mix in unimpressive victories for Tim Sylvia and Andre Arlovski, and a disappointing performance from Reagan Penn, and the phrase “rock bottom” comes to mind. Things could have gotten more boring, sure. But if they did, we wouldn’t waste time telling you about it.

Needless to say ProElite’s third installment, which took place last night in Hawaii, was a step in the right direction. While the main event and co-main event were nothing to write home about, the card saw some entertaining fights and quick finishes.

In the evening’s main event, Minowa was ineffective against Kendall Grove. Minowa’s only significant output was some leg kicks at the beginning of the first round and a takedown at the end of the round. For the rest of the fight, Grove was able to keep him outside and outpointed him en route to a unanimous decision. We don’t know how much time Minowa spent training against a person sitting on someone else’s shoulders poking at him with sticks in preparation for his American debut, but our guess is “not enough”.

The co-main event pitted Olympic wrestler Sara McMann against one-time Cyborg victim Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano. Sara McMann grinded out the unanimous decision victory against her more experienced opponent. The less we say about that one, the better.

While the heavyweight grand prix yielded some unspeakably boring fights the first time around, the heavyweights put on a much better show this time around. In tournament action, Jake Heun started out strong against Richard Odoms, slamming the heavier opponent and attempting submissions. Heun got the better of Odoms throughout the fight, but gassed out in the second round, allowing Odoms to secure the fight ending choke. Richard Odoms will meet Ryan Martinez, who outpointed Cody Griffin on his way to a unanimous decision victory.

Main Card Results:

Kendall Grove def. Ikuhisa Minowa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Sara McMann def. Hitomi Akano via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Richard Odoms def. Jake Heun via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:56 – Odoms advances to heavyweight grand prix final
Ryan Martinez def. Cody Griffin via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) – Martinez advances to heavyweight grand prix final
Patrick Cummins def. Tasi Edwards via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 4:01
Brant Schermerhorn def. Kaleo Gambill via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:45


Griffin vs. Martinez


Heun vs. Odoms


Grove vs. Minowa

Awesomely, Minowaman Will Be Fighting Kendall Grove in Hawaii

butterbean eric esch minowaman ikuhisa minowa mma photos
(Avenge us, Kendall. AVENGE US.)

Remember yesterday when we found that amazing drawing of Ikuhisa Minowa fighting Godzilla, and used it as an excuse to run a relatively pointless post confirming that Minowaman would not, in fact, be fighting Brian Stann at UFC 144? Man, the crazy antics we get up to when nobody’s watching.

The thing is, we actually have some legit news to pass along about DREAM’s reigning Super Hluk [sic] champion. MMAFighting is reporting that Minowa will make his U.S. MMA debut at ProElite 3 (January 21st, Honolulu) where he’ll face rangy UFC veteran Kendall “Da Spyder” Grove. Okay, so it’s not the kind of freak-show matchup we’re used to seeing from Minowaman — but at least Grove is really tall for a middleweight.

butterbean eric esch minowaman ikuhisa minowa mma photos
(Avenge us, Kendall. AVENGE US.)

Remember yesterday when we found that amazing drawing of Ikuhisa Minowa fighting Godzilla, and used it as an excuse to run a relatively pointless post confirming that Minowaman would not, in fact, be fighting Brian Stann at UFC 144? Man, the crazy antics we get up to when nobody’s watching.

The thing is, we actually have some legit news to pass along about DREAM’s reigning Super Hluk [sic] champion. MMAFighting is reporting that Minowa will make his U.S. MMA debut at ProElite 3 (January 21st, Honolulu) where he’ll face rangy UFC veteran Kendall “Da Spyder” Grove. Okay, so it’s not the kind of freak-show matchup we’re used to seeing from Minowaman — but at least Grove is really tall for a middleweight.

After being released by the UFC earlier this year following back-to-back decision losses to Demian Maia and Tim Boetsch, Grove rebounded at Pro Elite 1 in August, choking out Joe Riggs in 59 seconds. Meanwhile, Minowa has won his last four fights in Japan against opponents who had a combined record of 4-4-1 and a combined weight of 869 pounds.

Minowa has reportedly signed a three-fight North American exclusive deal with ProElite. His debut appearance at ProElite 3 will be just the third time that Minowa has competed outside of Asia in his 91-fight career, and his first fight in the United States. And here’s another fun fact that I just learned on his Wikipedia page: Ikuhisa Minowa put together a record of 1-8-1 in his first ten fights. And now he’s a minor MMA legend. The moral of the story? Don’t give up, Lionheart.