Suguru Nii def. Kenji Sakura

JAPAN’S NII WALKS OFF WITH THE X-1 LIGHTWEIGHT WORLD TITLE. WAIANAE’S KAMAKA CLAIMS X-1 WELTERWEIGHT TITLE

MAIN EVENT: Suguru Nii def. Kaeo Meyer via unanimous decision, for Lightweight (155 lbs.) World Title (3X5 min. rounds)

Japan’s Suguru Nii played spoiler in front of a home town audience at X-1 #49 on Saturday night at the Blaisdell Arena. In his 3rd fight of the evening, Nii secured a Kimura arm lock that led to a submission at 3:55 of the very first round. The fight capped off an eight-man Lightweight Grand Prix Tournament and crowned Nii as the new X-1 Lightweight World Champion, a title last held by the UFC’s Max Holloway. Nii started the main event with a quick take down and maintained the top position, but was unable to cause significant damage. Meyer got back to his feet quickly, but was caught with a Kimura arm lock while attempting to put Nii back on the ground. A gracious Nii simply said “My name is Suguru Nii, thank you, thank you.”

CO-MAIN EVENT: Rodney Mondala def. Bill Takeuchi via unanimous decision, for Bantamweight (135 lbs.) World Title (3X5 min. rounds)

Takeuchi entered as a heavy favorite having defended his belt last September. Mondala spent most of the first round working leg kicks to Takeuchi’s left leg and using his quickness to avoid Takeuchi’s heavy hands. In the second frame, Takeuchi went to his wrestling to score a series of take downs. Mondala survived an accidental mid-round groin strike and used shots from the clench to score. In the final round, Mondala walked down a visibly tired Takeuchi with crisp combinations to get the nod from the judges in a unanimous decision victory.

Zane Kamaka def. Mike Bronzoulis via verbal submission, for World Welterweight (170 lbs.) Title (3×5 min. rounds)

Zane Kamaka came into the cage fired up and dominated the one round match from the top position with punches, elbows and submission attempts. Bronzoulis was unable to continue after suffering a broken arm from blocking a kick, verbally submitting prior to the start of round two. At the close of the contest, Kamaka took the center of the cage with his new X-1 World Title and draped by a handful of other title belts, “I work too hard for this, UFC give me a call” Kamaka said.

Russell Mizuguchi def. Shojin Miki via unanimous decision, for the Flyweight (125 lbs.) State Title (3X5 min. rounds)

Mizuguchi started off with a takedown and spent most of round one with ground control over Miki against the cage. In second round, Miki evened up the scorecard with increased pressure and strikes. Mizuguchi used takedowns and wrestling to control most of the fight. The match ended with Mizuguchi working Miki on the ground to become the X-1 Flyweight State Champion via unanimous decision.