Toby Misech missed weight, and then he didn’t miss again.
He was, indeed, 2 Quick for Erik Perez, not that the Hilo native ever had any doubt.
Bumped to main event Friday night at Bellator 235 in Honolulu, Misech laid out Perez with a punishing left, stopping the catchweight bout just 54 second into the first round.
“I came into this fight with no pressure,” said Misech, a 2006 Hilo High grad who has long gone by the nickname “2 Quick”. “I’m always the underdog, I had so many doubters. This is our town, we ain’t losing here.”
Misech improved to 12-7 as a mixed martial arts pro and 2-1 in Bellator, was a near 4-1 underdog against Perez (19-7), a former UFC pro making his Bellator debut.
The fight was moved to the end of the night after former UFC world champion Josh Barnett had his fight canceled because of a “severe illness.”
“We got put on the main event for a reason,” said Misech, who fought at a Salute the Troops event that included troops from all branches of the military.
At Bellator 236 on Saturday night Oahu’s Ilima-Lei Macfarlane defended her women’s flyweight belt, winning a unanimous decision against Kate Jackson.
On Thursday, Misech missed weight by nearly 6 pounds and was to have forfeited part of his purse, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
“I was a little disappointed in myself, missed weight for the first time in my career,” Misech said. “I don’t know what it was, my body shut down, but I had to make up for it.”
He did.
Perez wore a mask at Thursday’s weigh-in and he had it on again Friday as he made his entrance to the cage.
A little while later, he wore an unknowing look after being floored and finished by Misech.
He sent Perez stunned to the canvas, and a second left forced the fight to be stopped.
“It’s a dream come true,” Misech said of fighting in Hawaii. “How can you not be motivated? I’m going to make up for this weight loss. I’m coming back, and I’m bringing the belt back home.”
Earlier on the card, Joey Davis (7-0) remained undefeated by stopping def. Hilo’s Chris Cisneros (19-11) via TKO.
According to the Star-Advertiser, the fight was stopped at 3:55 of the first round after Davis took down Cisneros just seconds into the fight and beat him up against the cage with a series of strikes, bloodying his opponent before it was called.
