Can Hawaii's MMA Scene Be Saved?

You'll have to circle back to the early to mid 2000's to really grasp ahold of how fruitful the Hawaiian MMA scene really was. Local promoters J.D Penn and T. Jay Thompson were flourishing under their respective Rumble on the Rock and Superbrawl/ICON Sport promotions. Big-time fights (B.J. Penn vs. Takanori Gomi/Renzo Gracie, Robbie Lawler vs. Frank Trigg/Jason Miller) were being put on and fans were eating it up.

Then everything fell apart. Penn and Thompson were both sucked into the mess that became EliteXC and its umbrella of promotions that eventually went under. Injuries and moves to other organizations essentially created a drought of must-fee matchups. On top of that, the state finally opted to regulate the sport at the professional level and began charging a variety of fees that have even the UFC questioning whether or not a trip to Hawaii would even be financially worth it.

At the moment, X-1 seems to be the top Hawaiian show and the organization will attempt to give MMA in the state a little jolt by pitting together UFC and Strikeforce veteran Falaniko Vitale, long considered a star in his homeland, against the last notable name from ICON Sport's final days, powerful slugger Kala Kolohe Hose.

Local news outlets are already calling the bout one of the biggest fights in Hawaii's history. Vitale and Hose are essentially Hawaii's biggest draws outside of B.J. Penn "Mayhem" Miller and Kendall Grove these days, so a bout between the two might be what the area needs to bring back the interest that was once there.

I'm going to try and get in touch with Thompson over the next few days to get his thoughts on the fight as well as what he believes needs to happen to bring back the glory days of Hawaiian MMA.