Kendall Grove finds a Home with Hawaiian based ProElite

At last night’s ProElite: Grove vs. Minowaman from the Neil S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii Main event fighter Kendall Grove looked at home. Walking into the cage against the Japanese sensation Minowaman, the Ultimate Fighter season 3 winner looked more focused and determined than he ever has.

Grove had put himself in a defensive mode towards the tail end of his UFC career, always looking over his shoulder fearing being released. After losing two in a row and four of his last six what Grove had feared the most had finally happened as he was released from the UFC.

In his first fight following his release Grove headlined the inaugural ProElite event against Joe Riggs last August. The Hawaiian avenged his loss seven and a half years ago to Riggs by submitting the MMA veteran with a standing guillotine just 59 second into the fight.

Last night against the leg lock specialist in Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa, Grove used his reach to pick his opponent a part and avoid the takedowns. Minowaman did get a takedown in the opening round but was unable to grab a leg or really do much to the lanky Grove. The next two rounds were all Grove as Minowaman could not secure a takedown and would find himself on his back defending submissions.

Grove is now 2-0 in his post UFC career and looks at home with ProElite, unafraid and completely focused on training and fighting. What the future holds for Grove is yet to be determined but ProElite has themselves a hometown favorite reigniting his MMA career inside their cage and both can benefit from it.

The rest of the night’s televised action on HDNet saw two heavyweight advance to the grand prix finals along with the 135 pound women’s prospect Sara McMann put here undefeated record on the line in the night’s c0-main event.

ProElite: Grove vs. Minowaman results and recap:

185 lbs.: Kendall Grove defeated Ikuhisa Minowa by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

• Minowaman was able to secure a takedown in the opening round but failed attempts in rounds two and three resulted in him defending submission attempts while in a body triangle from Grove.

Women’s 135 lbs.: Sara McMann defeated Hitomi Akano by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

• Completely one-sided fight in favor of McMann with the only thing saving Akano was the questionable stand ups from the referee. McMann slammed Akano down multiple times throughout the fight.

265 lbs. Grand Prix Semifinal bout: Richard Odoms defeated Jake Heun by 2^nd rd. Submission (RNC)

• The opening round has more action than the previous tournament bout with back and forth action that Heun got the better. Heun looked gassed in round two and though he got full mount Odoms easily reversed, moved to the back and force Heum to tap.

265 lbs. Grand Prix Semifinal bout: Ryan Martinez defeated Cody Griffin by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

• The entire fight was contested on their feet but there wasn’t as much action as there should have been. Martinez picked Griffin a part with leg kicks and controlled chaos on his way to the tournament finals.

265 lbs.: Pat Cummings defeated Tasi Edwards by 1^st rd. Submission (Arm Triangle)

• Edwards wasn’t prepared for the wrestling of Cummings and it was a one-sided fight.

185 lbs.: Brent Schermerhorn defeated Kaleo Gambill by 1^st rd KO

• It was the left hands of Schermerhorn that did in Gambill. Three lefts in a row dropped Gambill and after getting back up it was another left that gave Schermerhorn the knocked out win.

Tags: Brent Schermerhorn, Cody Griffin, Hawaiian, Hitomi Akano, Ikuhisa Minowa, Jake Heun, Kaleo Gambill, Kendall Grove, Minowaman, Mixed Martial Arts, MMA, Pat Cummings, ProElite, ProElite: Grove vs. Minowaman, Results, Richard Odoms, Ryan Martinez, Sara McMann, Tasi Edwards

Category: Featured, MMA, Pro Elite, Results