ShoXC preview: Jared Hamman discusses Po'ai Suganuma rematch
Despite having faced Po'ai Suganuma before, Jared Hamman still isn't that familiar with the Hawaiian fighter he meets for a second time on Friday night. After all, their first encounter lasted a mere 15 seconds.
"I really don't know much about his skills, but I know now that he's aggressive," said Hamman, who was on the receiving end of that aggression in their first fight in April on "ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series."
After clipping Hamman with an overhand right, Suganuma delivered a flying knee seemingly out of nowhere that floored Hamman and ended the proceedings before either fighter broke a sweat, much to the chagrin of the crowd at the Table Mountain Casino in Friant, Calif.
"One of the things that I tell my football players is that the first person who hesitates is the first person who gets rocked," said Hamman, who was a linebacker at the University of Redlands in California and went on to coach at the Division III school. "I hesitated just a little bit and he hit me with the right, which kind of dazed me a little bit. I sat back, and then he threw the weirdest-looking flying knee I've ever seen."
While Hamman defers to referee Jon Schorle as to whether or not the right call was made to wave off the fight, the previously unbeaten light heavyweight sprang to his feet almost immediately and appeared to be ready to continue.
Given the brevity of their first go-round, a rematch was all but a certainty, and it comes as the main event Friday on the latest installment of ProElite's "ShoXC" event from the Table Mountain Casino on Showtime (11 p.m. ET).
"Nobody likes to win by controversial decision," said Suganuma (9-1), who fights of Hilo, Hawaii, and is trained by B.J. Penn. "I thought I had him dazed, but I don't think he was completely out. I was a little surprised the ref did what he did but only because I wanted to hit Hamman again. If he wants to fight again, let's do it."
Defeat leads to changes for Hamman
The loss has served as a turning point in Hamman's fledgling MMA career. The 26-year-old has decided to put coaching on hold to train full time. He stepped down from his position at Redlands after three years and believes now is the time to move into contention for a permanent spot on the EliteXC roster.
"Before the loss, I was doing it (MMA) as a hobby – this thing I did on the side," he said. "But when I went down, it reset my mindset, and now I'm pissed. Now, I'm more driven and more determined to go for the championship belt. Before, I didn't have a goal. I was just fighting to test myself. Now, I have a goal and that's to win the belt."
Although his eyes are fixed on the sport's top prize, Hamman (9-1) has no illusions about his progression as a fighter. He's still young, with plenty to learn. He recently moved to Los Angeles to work more closely with his trainer, Vladimir Matyushenko, and take advantage of the occasional session with top boxing trainer Freddy Roach at Roach's Wild Card Boxing Club.
With nine wins, all by stoppage, in 10 fights, Hamman has written a quality first chapter in MMA. The winner of Friday's rematch will take a considerable next step in EliteXC's light heavyweight division, with a possible match-up against highly regarded prospect Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante potentially in the offing.
Other bouts scheduled for the Showtime portion of the card, include a lightweight bout between Fabricio Camoes (8-4) and Sam Morgan (19-10), Cyrille Diabate (11-6-1) against Jaime Fletcher (6-3) in a light heavyweight fight, and a King of the Cage title bout featuring middleweight champion Keith Berry (6-2) against Ray Lizama (5-5).
The card also will introduce a new women's weight class – 130 pounds – with American Debi Purcell (4-1) facing Rosi Sexton (8-1) of England.
Purcell was one of the first two women to compete in King of the Cage, and was the first and only female coach in the International Fight League. She has a three-fight deal with EliteXC.
"I've been telling promoters for years what women could bring to the sport," she said. "I've always thought that if you brought in skilled women and put them on a fight card, it would bring in the fans. We come to fight, always give everything we have, and it's always exciting. You never see a boring women's fight.''
Purcell hasn't fought since dropping her first fight to Hitomi Akano in February of 2006. Sexton is fighting for the first time since beating Julia Berezikova last August.
This will be the seventh edition of "ShoXC," which ProElite CEO Chuck Champion views as a critical piece to the continued progression of the EliteXC fight brand.
"We think we can get a lot more (out of ShoXC)," Champion told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com). "ShoXC is a great opportunity for us to showcase young fighters on their way up, and to use our other brands, like King of the Cage, to funnel people (fans) up to EliteXC, then to the CBS shows and then on to pay per view. We think we can do a lot more with it."
