It was a big night of fights in Honolulu on a weekend that had some important happenings in the MMA world. Three straight days of MMA mayhem with the UFC and PRIDE (girlfriends everywhere were pleased), and what a way to kick it off for the fans on Oahu! This event featured some killer lightweights, a couple of international superstars and one true warrior that took a spot in the tournament on only 4 hours notice. Enough of the tease, though; let’s get to the event.
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The first event of the evening featured Justin James from Omaha, Nebraska against Deshaun “3D” Johnson. It is worth noting that Deshaun took this fight on only 4 hours notice. He was preparing for another fight on Monday night (June 21st) that was scheduled to take place at 165 pounds, so he had to drop quite a few on very short notice. This last-minute ordeal might have taken it out of him, as he never really seemed to hit his stride.
Deshaun, a standup fighter, did manage to get some good shots in and put a mouse under the eye of James, but ultimately James’ superior takedown ability and control of position earned him the unanimous decision. Deshaun’s one-shot to James’ eye fractured his orbital bone, though, and James was unable to continue to the next round. Deshaun took his place, but we’ll get to that later…
