I spent this weekend in Oahu. We had two fighters (“Sugar” Shane Nelson and Chris Henriques) fighting on the Gracie Proving Grounds card this weekend. We went for the fights, but had a good time while we were there.

We hit the sauna for an hour or so Friday morning and were in Waikiki a few hours later for the Weigh-ins. Shane and Chris both made weight and we headed off to a sushi place to get some dinner. I don’t eat Sushi so I ordered some Steak. They got me to try some tofu soup and I found out that I don’t like Tofu either. Bleh.

Pretty unreal how clear that water is…

After dinner BJ and I jumped around to a few different places and saw some of his friends. Hanging with BJ, I have started calling him the “Pride of Hawaii”. Someone else called him the modern version of a Hawaiian chief. Absolutely everyone knows him or has seen him fight and loves him. My boxing coach Steve Maze is always saying “We can’t take you anywhere” to me because people are always coming up and say they saw one of my fights or saw me on TV… well BJ has ten times as many people come up. After bouncing around we hit up some Denny’s and got some sleep.

BJ, Me and Chava

We woke up Saturday morning and picked up “King” James. I had one of the best burgers I have ever tasted at W&M before heading to the North Shore. We stopped and hung out with Chava and some of the other guys that live in the Volcom house at Bonzai Pipeline. The house was UNREAL. After seeing the house and hearing some amazing stories about how the place gets come winter, we went for a swim. I guess this is a calmer time for the waves, but they were still throwing me all over. Pretty unreal how one wave knocks you in so far and then the receding wave pulls you back out. Waves can give you a beating because not only are they incredibly powerful, but they never get tired.

Diamond Head

We bounced around to Diamond Head and a couple other places before heading back to the hotel to shower before the fights. We went over the fights and had plenty of time because our guys were fighting 10th and 13th. For these fights, the first round is 10 minutes, then there is a 2 minute rest and then there is a 5 minute round. In regards to a decision, only the first round matters because its the longer round.

Chris was up first and looked great. He wobbled his guy in the first but ended up on bottom after a failed takedown. He ate a few punches while working the armlock from guard but got the sweep and ended the fight.

“Sugar” Shane Nelson was up next. He came out hard in the first and controlled the pace of the fight. He ate a couple good leg kicks but controlled most of the round. In the second round Shane took a little more damage but was getting his takedowns easier and easier as the fight went on. It was a close fight, but Shane got the win.

Another view of Diamond Head

After the fights, we went back to the hotel and then to a night club inside our hotel called “Aaron’s Atop the Ala Moana”. I met a ton of people as I was led around by a girl that greeted everyone by punching, kicking or elbowing them. Some people I met a few times, as I think she lost track of who we had already talked to. All in all it was a good time though and I got to bed before too late, and was up nice and early for our return flight Sunday morning.

Back in Hilo, I spent most of the day laying around the house and then went to the beach. Rudy was doing a surf competition so we went and checked that out and then went swimming. Pretty lazy Sunday, but thats the way it should be.