Thanks to www.ProElite.com, on March 31 the whole world got a seat in the Blaisdell Arena for ICON SPORT - EPIC. The event was webcast live from Honolulu, Hawaii. Watching from the East Coast meant I was up until 5 am, but the main event was definitely worth the wait until the wee hours of the morning. Robbie Lawler and Frank Trigg battled for the World Middleweight Championship in what the announcers called the best match in the history of ICON.

1 - DEVON “Dynamite” DAMO vs. DUANE HANEY

ROUND ONE: Haney controlled most of the round. Nice reversal by Damo. Sweet sequence towards the end where Haney had the mount and threw down a flurry of punches, before transitioning into an armbar attempt, followed by a triangle attempt. Good defense shown by Damo. Round goes to Haney.

ROUND TWO: Damo came out swinging. Haney scored a takedown. Haney rode Damo, until he was able to lock in a triangle choke. Damo tapped out.

FINISH: Duane Haney won by Submission in Round 2.

STAR RATING: (*+) Decent match while it lasted. Haney proved to be the superior grappler, while Damo showed heart in his defeat.

2 - JAY BOLOS vs. RYAN LEE

ROUND ONE: Close round. Bolos came on strong at the end of the round, but Lee had landed some serious punches and a significant takedown early. Round probably goes to Lee.

ROUND TWO: Bolos came on strong again towards the end of the round, except this time it was complete domination by Bolos. Lee went for a leglock and ate a ton of headshots before giving up the hold. Bolos clearly takes the round.

ROUND THREE: Lee scored a takedown early and controlled Bolos on the ground. Lee sunk in a guillotine and would not let go. Bolos finally escaped towards the end of the round. Lee takes the round. It depends how the judges went for the first round. I'd go with Lee.

FINISH: Ryan Lee won by Unanimous Decision after Round 3.

STAR RATING: (**+) Fun first round. Really an argument could be made for Bolos to have won this fight. He did the most damage in the second round, but Lee used grappling to control most of the first and third rounds, so he won by default.

3 - SCOTT “Sleepy” ANDERSON vs. PJ DEAN

ROUND ONE: Anderson scored a couple of takedowns and the only significant strikes of the round. Anderson ended the round with a brutal forearm strike. Anderson showed why he's nicknamed Sleepy as he attempted to go to the wrong corner at the end of the round. Nevertheless, Anderson won the round.

ROUND TWO: Anderson started the second round with another takedown. Anderson had Dean's back with his hooks sunk it, but Dean was somehow able to escape. Dean is warned for using an elbow to Anderson on the ground. Dean stunned Anderson with a knee and followed up with a hard punch. Anderson scored another takedown to end the round. Close round. Anderson controlled most of the round, but Dean did the most damage. I'd give the round to Dean, but I bet the judges give it to Anderson.

ROUND THREE: Anderson body slammed Dean to start the round, got his back and went for another rear naked choke. Dean defended well and escaped. Dean nailed Anderson with some right hands and went for a rear naked choke of his own. The fighters stumbled out of the ring. Dean landed a big right hook. Dean tried for a triangle. Anderson rode Dean out until the end of the round. The announcer says Anderson clearly won this fight. I dunno. An argument could be made for Dean, but he probably didn’t do enough this round.

FINISH: Scott Anderson won by Unanimous Decision after Round 3.

STAR RATING: (**) Solid match. Dean did well enough, considering his kickboxing background, in fending off the Anderson blanket. Anderson used his superior grappling to win this match, Dean just wasn’t able to finish, which was really the only way he was going to beat Anderson.

4 - DERECK KEASLEY vs. KIMO WOLFEL

ROUND ONE: Keasley scored an amazing slam takedown, but ended up getting knocked silly himself when Wolfel held onto Keasley’s head and drove it into the mat. Wolfel subsequently unloaded on Keasley, but wasn't able to finish before the round was over. Really exciting, really bizarre sequence. Even though Keasley scored the takedown, he definitely was the worse for wear after all was said and done. Close round, but I'd go with Wolfel.

ROUND TWO: Back and forth round. Nothing all that significant. Really too close to call.

ROUND THREE: Both fighters stunned each other with hard shots. Keasley came on really strong at the end of the round with a multitude of strikes. Keasley likely won the round.

FINISH: Kimo Wolfel won by Decision.

STAR RATING: (***) Great first and third rounds. The first round featured one of the strangest spots I've seen in a fight, where Keasley tried to do a slam Rampage-style, but Wolfel countered pro wrestling-style and DDT’d Keasley. I definitely wasn’t expecting the guy doing the slamming to be the one quickly getting pummeled. It all happened so fast, it was a wild spot. Keasley scored a beautiful high slam takedown on Wolfel and two seconds later Wolfel was on top of Keasley punching away on the verge of victory. The second round was dull, but it gave us time to get over the shocking first round. The third round was pretty intense once again, with Keasley unloading on Wolfel. Somehow Wolfel managed to hang on and take the decision. This fight was like an Oreo if you love the cookie and don’t care much for the filling.

5 - KALA KOLOHE HOSE vs. RON VERDADERO

ROUND ONE: Thirtysome seconds into the fight, Hose landed a huge punch that knocked Verdadero to the mat. Hose threw his arms up into the air in victory before the fight was even called. Since Hose was celebrating, the ref figured he might as well check on Verdadero. He did and waved the fight over. It was actually quite merciful of Hose not to pounce on the downed Verdadero. Most fighters would have kept swinging, and wisely so, until the ref told them to stop. It was like in a baseball game where the player hits the ball real hard and walks slowly to first base, assuming they’ve hit a homerun, while the crowd remains unsure until they see the ball go over the wall. Luckily for Hose, the ball went over the wall.

FINISH: Kala Kolohe Hose won by KO in Round 1.

STAR RATING: (*) This was a one-punch squash. Hose looked really strong and holds the confidence to become a true MMA star. Verdadero was merely a stone in the path of the Hose-man.

[Intermission]

6 - JUSTIN BUCHHOLZ vs. MARSHALL HARVEST {State Lightweight Championship}

ROUND ONE: A one and a two, and it was over. Buchholz tagged Harvest with a straight right, followed by another right that buckled Harvest.

FINISH: Justin Buchholz won by KO in Round 1.

STAR RATING: (*+) While the fight only consisted of two straight right hands to the face of Harvest, the KO was oh so sweet.

UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture, Quinton Jackson, Jens Pulver and B.J. Penn entered the ring. The UFC was really representing tonight. The Hawaiian crowd loved Couture and Jackson, but they really loved Penn. Not so much love for Little Evil, who is Penn’s upcoming opponent after TUF 5. In the funniest spot of the night, the interviewer started asking Randy Couture about his upcoming documentary FIGHTER, when he realized they forgot about PRIDE Middleweight and Welterweight Champion Dan Henderson. Henderson’s name was called and he made his way to the ring embarrassingly.

Pulver pimped TUF 5 and said he really wants to fight Penn. Henderson reminisced about his win over Wanderlei Silva. Rampage came to root for Jason Miller and Jeremy Williams. Jackson says there’s something we don’t know -- he previously asked Liddell out for drinks and he obliged. Jackson says the next time his asks Liddell out, “the ref is going to have to wake his ass up.” Penn talked more about his upcoming match with Pulver.

7 - CHARLES JONES vs. JEREMY “Half-Man, Half-Amazing” WILLIAMS

ROUND ONE: Williams is a sparring partner of Lennox Lewis. He showed why when he rocked Jones early with a left hand, in what was the brightest spot of the round. Otherwise, a fairly dull round. Jones rode Williams on the mat, and then some more up against the ropes. Williams took the round with his one punch versus the other guy laying on him.

ROUND TWO: Not much action until a crazy spot where Williams had a triangle locked on Jones, but was himself completely out of the ring onto the catwalk. The ref had to reset the fighters in the middle of the ring in the triangle position, but Williams could not finish before the round ended. Or maybe he did, as the crowd seemed to believe Jones submitted when he was outside the ring in the triangle earlier. There wasn’t a replay that clearly showed if Jones tapped out or not. It didn’t look like he did.

ROUND THREE: Jones was on top of Williams, when Williams hit him with an elbow from the ground, which is illegal. Williams was warned. Jones continued to lay on Williams until the ref called for a reset. At this point, Jones clearly didn’t want to get back up. Reluctantly he finally did, but he told the ref that he couldn’t breath. Instead of calling the fight, referee Yuji Shimada told them to continue. Jones just stood there until Williams punched him again, at which point Jones fell to the ground and covered his head. Finally, Shimada took a hint and called the fight. Insane ending. The announcers speculated there may have been a communication breakdown with the Japanese Shimada, but it didn’t take knowing what Jones was saying to figure out he didn’t want to continue. No, it seemed more like PRIDE’s head referee forgot he wasn’t back in Japan. PRIDE referees have been notorious for allowing fights to continue well beyond they’re over. In Japan, you’re not out until you’re literally out. If you can’t breath, then you’d better stand up and get knocked out.

FINISH: Jeremy Williams won by TKO in Round 3.

STAR RATING: (*) Ridiculous match really. A boring first round, a bizarre second round and an loopy third round. If we were rating matches on how crazy they were, this one would score really high, but as it stands it scores pretty low.

8 - NATE CAREY vs. POAI SUGANUMA

ROUND ONE: Exciting first round. Carey had Suganuma in a guillotine, released and landed a knee to Suganuma’s face. Suganuma scored a beautiful belly-to-back suplex. Both fighters landed some hard shots. Suganuma probably takes the early advantage.

ROUND TWO: Fantastic sequence by Suganuma, who scored a reversal and transitioned all sorts of ways going for a submission. Carey was bleeding heavily from the nose. The fight was stopped for the doctor to attend to Carey. Carey got a takedown and controlled Suganuma on the ground. The ref stood the fighters up and Suganuma landed a hard overhand right. Carey stumbled and Suganuma used his hips for a sweet trip takedown on Carey. Suganuma may have this one in the bank if he can hold on for one more round.

ROUND THREE: Suganuma took the early advantage with several takedowns. Carey scored a nice reversal. Carey was on top of Suganuma swinging away with Suganuma covering up. Carey scored points galore, but it mightn’t’ve been enough, after those dominating first two rounds.

FINISH: Poai Suganuma won by Unanimous Decision after Round 3.

STAR RATING: (**) Pretty good match with Carey placing much better than expected. Suganuma scored a sweet suplex in the first round and showed some superior grappling in the second round. Suganuma basically packed it in for the third round, covering up to wait for his decision victory. This lack of aggression by Suganuma in the third gave the match an anticlimactic ending. Nice showing by both fighters really though. Suganuma probably has the most potential, so it’s good to see the decision go his way.

9 - JASON “Mayhem” MILLER vs. HECTOR “El Toro” URBINA

ROUND ONE: Miller landed a few big shots while the fighters were standing up, which literally caused Urbina to not stand up any more. On the ground, Miller landed a bunch of knees to the head of Urbina, followed by some punches that eventually knocked him out for the non-count.

FINISH: Jason Miller won by TKO in Round 1.

STAR RATING: (*+) What can I say? Urbina was basically a jobber here to put over Miller after his championship loss to Frank Trigg. After the match, Miller called out the winner of tonight’s main event. Miller looked strong, so the option of a rematch with Trigg or Miller-Lawler are pretty exciting prospects.

10 - LARS HAVEN vs. RENATO “Charuto” VERISSIMO

ROUND ONE: Verissimo slapped Haven around like a rag doll. Verissimo took Haven down and mounted him. Verissimo threw down a few punches and looked at the referee. He then continued to hesitantly swat at Haven until the ref finally stepped in. Verissimo literally didn’t want to hurt Haven. He established a dominant position, knew he had the fight won and only threw what was barely necessary to win.

FINISH: Renato Verissimo won by TKO in Round 1.

STAR RATING: (*-) Silly match. Afterwards, Verissimo said he quit his landscaping job and is going to fight full time. Considering how well he handled the rookie, I’d say they need step up the competition for Charuto next time. Havens gave basically no fight and was embarrassed at the end when Verissimo showed him mercy. I’m all for mercy in real life, but in an MMA match it’s kind of odd. It’s like the two were good buddies rolling around in the gym, and not two fighters slotted right below the main event. Haven basically served as enhancement talent for Verissimo.

11 - FRANK "Twinkle Toes" TRIGG vs. "Ruthless" ROBBIE LAWLER {World Middleweight Championship}

ROUND ONE: Trigg scored multiple takedowns and controlled most of the round on the ground. Lawler seemed befuddled with Trigg and his, dare I say, ruthlessness. Trigg dominantly takes the round.

ROUND TWO: Trigg stopped with the takedowns, and instead allowed Lawler to come back with his stand-up. Lawler landed a big right hand that rocked Trigg backwards and half way across the ring to the mat. Lawler hesitated, thinking he might have just won, but Trigg was still awake, so Lawler pounced. Lawler landed a brutal knee square to the nose of Trigg. Trigg was dazed but still conscious. The fight was paused for the doctor to check on Trigg. Trigg came back with his hands down and got hit some more. Trigg made a comeback of sorts, landing some knees to the body of Lawler, as the two traded punches. Intense round. Hands down best round of the show.

ROUND THREE: Trigg came back with a vengeance, employing the rope-a-dope strategy to trade with and get the better of Lawler. Lawler is now dazed. The announcers call the fight a “blood fest.” The fight was paused again for the doctor to tend to the bloody nose of Trigg. Trigg and Lawler kept jabbing each other silly. Trigg unleashed a crazy combination. Another brutal round. Two more rounds like these and we’ve got a fight of the year candidate. Close round in terms of scoring, as both fighters stood inside and traded strikes.

ROUND FOUR: Both fighters are blown up. Some tired punching by each, until Lawler landed two hooks, a left and a right, that caused Trigg to go limp, dropping into the corner turnbuckle. As Trigg slumped down, Lawler threw a bonus punch right to the cheek of the unconscious Trigg. The final punch was unnecessary and most likely a receipt for the kiss Trigg planted on Lawler at the weigh-in.

FINISH: Robbie Lawler won by KO in Round 4.

STAR RATING: (****-) For two rounds this fight was completely off the charts. Back and forth it went, and just when you thought one fighter was down, he would rise right back up and take control. Both fighters seemed impervious to pain and neither was about to back down. Both fighters went all Muhammad Ali with the rope-a-dope brutal inside fighting. Trigg found great success in the first round by taking Lawler down, but apparently in the interest of creating a more exciting fight, Trigg decided to engage in stand-up for the next two rounds. Trigg may have lost, but the audience definitely won, if that helps him at all.

Trigg got in his share of strikes, but took a ton of punishment from Lawler in the process. It might've been smarter for Trigg to focus more on scoring takedowns, and less on trying to stand up and throw down with a striker the caliber of Lawler. Trigg actually did surprisingly well on his feet and had Lawler stunned several times. Lawler is a hard man to knock out, though, and he happens to have some heavy hands. Eventually, Lawler was able to find the right punch and Trigg had no choice but to fall asleep. Valiant effort by Trigg, even if it wasn’t so smart to engage in a stand-up fight with a superior striker. Maybe Trigg didn’t think Lawler was superior on his feet, but he definitely learned it now.

RAMIFICATIONS: Robbie Lawler became the new ICON World Middleweight Champion. This is the second time Lawler has held this belt, which makes him the first person in the history of ICON to hold the championship on two occasions.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: This show featured some pretty cool knockouts. There were only a couple of not-so-swell matches, and one excellent match. Lawler-Trigg is a match you should go out of your way to see. And, as it turns out, you don’t even have to go that far out of your way to see it. The ICON matches will continue to be available for download at www.proelite.com. You must watch this match, you will not be disappointed. If you feel like watching more than one, try the Keasley-Wolfel match also. It wasn’t as exciting, but featured some really cool spots and stole the show on the undercard. In the "so bad it's good" category, you might also want to check out the Jones-Williams match for the sheer train wreck aspect to the ending. There were at least three other really solid matches and then there were several other matches with quick, but exciting, KO finishes. Overall, I’d definitely recommend this show. In à la carte form, take out the few bad matches I’ve noted above, and you’ll have a really good show despite the fact that you may not recognize all that many of the fighters before watching.

BEST FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Robbie Lawler vs. Frank Trigg

Comments, questions, concerns and the like for Randy Rowles can be e-mailed to mmatorch_predictions@yahoo.com.