Last November, Wesley “Cabbage” Correira fought in Just Scrap and didn’t perform what he’s famous for: taking punch after punch to his noggin.
Instead, Cabbage, who weighed in at 272 pounds, made quick work of Alaska’s Matt Kovacs with a flurry of haymakers for a technical knockout just 52 seconds into the first round.
Cabbage (25-12) got to go home early and eat dinner. Another potential meal is on the table in the latest Just Scrap on Friday at Edith Kanakaole Multipurpose Stadium.
It was a redemption Hilo victory for Cabbage, who returned to the octagon for the first time in five years in a January, 2013 Just Scrap bout and suffered a first-round TKO loss to Oahu’s Deutsch Pu‘u.
In between, Cabbage submitted Paea Paongo in the second round at a Just Scrap event two months later on Maui.
While Correira is featured in the Just Scrap main event, another Hilo homegrown product, Jay “Excaliber” Carter, is making a return to MMA.
Carter (12-5), a 1999 Waiakea graduate, last fought in Hilo at the Toughman kickboxing event in August, 2011.
In the Cabbage-powered Just Scrap event last November, Austin Bloch, from Boss MMA, defeated Keoni Rodrigues, from Team Puna, with a first-round, rear-naked choke for the interim featherweight title.
Bloch is not fighting on Friday. He’s attending UH-Hilo and majoring in agriculture. Bloch has a 6-1 record and looking for his next featherweight opponent.
While Bloch is an amateur, there was big news on the professional MMA featherweight ranks on Tuesday.
Call to Lion?
UFC featherweight (145 pounds) champion Conor McGregor tweeted earlier in the day that “I have decided to retire young.”
McGregor, 27, was scheduled to fight Nate Diaz at UFC 200 on July 9 in Las Vegas.
Hours after the shocking tweet UFC president Dana White announced on SportsCenter that McGregor was pulled because he refused to fly to Las Vegas and promote the fight.
It’s been reported that McGregor makes $16 to $20 million per fight, and that’s before his share of pay-per-view revenue.
The website www.davemanuel.com estimated McGregor’s net worth at $15 million. (There was no documented proof from either website.)
At UFC 196 on March 5, McGregor took on Diaz in a welterweight (170 pounds) bout. Diaz ate punches in the first round, but then seized McGregor’s lunch money in the second round with a rear-naked choke.
The No. 1 featherweight contender is Jose Aldo, followed by Frankie Edgar, Chad Mendes, and Oahu’s Max Holloway at No. 4.
BJ Penn (16-10-2) will look to turn Dennis Siver (22-11) into a tomato can at UFC 199 on June 4 in Inglewood, Calif., in an intriguing featherweight collision between a pair of 37-year-olds.
In the UFC’s world, there’s no such thing as stand in line and wait your turn. Matchups go by the dictatorial rule also known as Whatever Dana Wants.
Last November, Ronda Rousey lost her UFC bantamweight (135 pounds) belt to Holly Holm, who didn’t engage in a rematch. Holm defended and lost to Miesha Tate four months later.
If Penn should look like his old two-division — lightweight (155 pounds) and welterweight — champion self and disassemble Siver, the “Prodigy” turned “Lion” might want to check his cellphone after June 4, just in case his new BFF (Mr. White) is calling.
BJPenn.com Just Scrap
Lineup
Main event
265 pounds: Wesley “Cabbage” Correira, Jackson Wink (Hilo) vs. Daniel Spitz, Sikjitsu (Seattle)
205: Jay Carter, Boss MMA (Hilo) vs. Daniel Bolen, Sikjitsu (Seattle)
125: Russell “Da Muscle” Mizuguchi, Boss MMA (Hilo) vs. Ryan Mondala, HMC Hawaii (Honolulu)
250: Raymond Lopez, HIBC (Hilo) vs. TBA
Title fight
125: Jeremy Pereira, Freelance (Hilo) vs. Shojin Miki HMC Hawaii (Honolulu)
140: Kaylan Gorospe, HMC Hawaii (Honolulu) vs. TBA
170: Avery Sanchis, Kona Boxing vs. Sean Kelley, Boss MMA (Hilo)
185: Kelii Kanakoa, Freelance (Hilo) vs. Puna Sariano, MMAD (Honolulu)
170: Kaena Kaohu, Freelance (Hilo) vs. Isaiah Fonseca, Freelance (Hilo)
150: Tau Bee, Monkey House (Honokaa) vs. Canaan Kawaihae, Team MMAD (Honolulu)
130: Jeff Nojo, HMC Hawai (Honolulu) vs. Chris Emeliano, HIBC (Hilo)
135: Ronald Aurello, Boss MMA (Hilo) vs. Nate Rowland, Tuff Braddah FC (Hilo)
