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UFC ON VERSUS

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of UFC on VERSUS on March 21 live from the FirstBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 9 PM Eastern/6 PM Pacific!

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DREAM 13

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of DREAM 13 coming to you from the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan on March 22. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 3 AM Eastern/12 AM Pacific!

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STRIKEFORCE: CHALLENGERS

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of STRIKEFORCE: CHALLENGERS on March 26 live from the SavMart Center in Fresno, CA. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 10 PM Eastern/7 PM Pacific!

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UFC 111: GSP VS. HARDY

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of UFC 111: St. Pierre vs. Hardy live from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on March 27. The event will be headlined by a welterweight title fight between Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy and feature a heavyweight showdown between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin! Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 10 PM Eastern/7 PM Pacific!

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UFC FIGHT NIGHT: FLORIAN VS. GOMI

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Gomi live from the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, NC on March 31. The event will be headlined by a lightweight battle between Kenny Florian and Takanori Gomi. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 8:00 PM Eastern/5:00 PM Pacific!

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BELLATOR XIII

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of Bellator Fighting XIII live from the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida on April 8. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 7:30 PM Eastern/4:30 PM Pacific!

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BELLATOR XIV

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of Bellator Fighting XIV live from the Chicago Theatre in Chicago, Illinois on April 15. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 7:30 PM Eastern/4:30 PM Pacific!

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STRIKEFORCE: NASHVILLE

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of Strikeforce: Nashville live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN on April 17. The event will be headlined by a middleweight title fight between Jake Shields and Dan Henderson and feature the US debut of Japanese submission god Shinya Aoki! Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 10 PM Eastern/7 PM Pacific!

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MFC 25: VINDICATION

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of MFC 25: Vindication live from the Edmonton Expo Center in Edmonton, Alberta on April 17. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 10 PM Eastern/7 PM Pacific!

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“If you go by the rules, you end up being an accountant.”

Robert Evans

K.J. Noons returns home, primed for Edwards

Written by Ralph Gonzalez   |   Thursday, June 12 2008

KJ Noons is an extremely dangerous striker trained in both boxing and Muay Thai

Elite XC Lightweight champion K.J. Noons, (6-2) is coming home to Hawaii to defend his title for the first time against Yves Edwards (33-13-1). The card is being billed as “Return of the King"? in honor of the one time resident of the islands. “My mom, all my family on my mom's side are from Hawaii,"? said Noons during a national teleconference to promote the event. “I was born and raised there until I was about 16 years old in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. That's where my father had his professional kickboxing career in the late '70s."?

Noons is coming off a devastating one round stoppage over Nick Diaz. The San Diego based fighter landed a knee to Diaz’s face as the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt shot in for a takedown. The impact opened up an ugly gash on Diaz bad enough for the ring doctor to stop the fight. It’s become the biggest win of Noons’ young M.M.A. career.

Since that fight, Noons took an uncharacteristic seven month layoff due to contract negotiations with his promoters at Elite XC. He used the unexpected break to maintain his fighting condition. “As far as the layoff. This is the longest I've ever trained for a fight. I'm in top shape and I'm just really ready to get in there and mix it up,"? said Noons. “You know, a lot of people think you can overtrain. You've just got to watch yourself, and I just trained all the way through for four months."?

He’s somewhat familiar with Edwards who’s coming off an impressive high light reel knockout victory over Edson Berto. He and Edwards trained and sparred together about eight years ago. Some would see this as an advantage. “That was a long time ago. You never know how Yves is going to react,"? said Noons “I don't know, you've got to look out for everything with Yves. He's so good all around."?

Although primarily known as a striker, he’s been consistently training on his ground game. “I'm training that probably three times more than I am my striking,"? said Noons. “Yves is an all around great fighter. He's explosive. At any time, something can happen, and you've just got to be ready."?

The winner is assured a slot on Elite XC’s next card on CBS against the winner of the Nick Diaz vs. Muhsin Corbbrey fight which takes place as part of the undercard. Noons assured that being on CBS isn’t necessarily a motivating factor. “I'm happy fighting on SHOWTIME in my hometown and being the main event,"? said Noons. “Wherever they want to promote me, wherever they want me to fight, I really don't care. I just want to fight."?

The twenty seven year old spoke with much respect of his opponent and elaborated on the importance of the image Mixed Martial Artists should project. “(The Sport) is already in the limelight on network TV and we're already going to be on SHOWTIME this Saturday,"? said Noons. “So I think it's very important that we show a lot of respect to each other. You know, kind of like fighter camaraderie. Because when we get in there, it's not so much like that. It's punches thrown, blood flying, teeth flying."?

Fighting at home in Honolulu, Hawaii makes the event truly special for Noons. “This is where my father used to fight 20 years ago in the late '70s. He fought professionally at the Blaisdell Arena,"? he said. “Then I got into M.M.A. This is where I started my career. I was the first fight on the fight card,"? recalled Noons. “(And now) I'm returning as the main event on SHOWTIME, defending my title. In front of all my friends and family, and all the fans of Hawaii; it’s just an awesome experience."?

Although a successful mixed martial artist, Noons is also a talented boxer with a promotional contract. For the moment, boxing has taken a back seat. “I think EliteXC and Gary Shaw have been focused on building this promotion,"? said Noons. “I'm concentrating on that right now. I'm not looking past Yves, but as soon as I'm done with this fight, I'd like to pursue my boxing career."?

Being a participant at a professional level in both sports gives Noons’ opinions regarding the two disciplines much credence. “They have their similarities and definitely their differences. I take what I can from the boxing and implement it into MMA,"? said Noons. “When I train for boxing, it's definitely different. You have four ounce gloves compared to 10 ounce gloves, so you can take a lot more shots and feel a little more comfortable in the ring when you're boxing."?

He believes fate has brought him to this point and feels lucky to be involved a profession where he feels fulfilled. “Before I went into the Diaz fight, before I walked out on stage where millions of people are viewing and thousands are watching me live fighting the best guy in the world at the time,"? said Noons. “I'm laughing at myself thinking, ‘I'm getting paid for people to see this.’ This is a dream come true."?

Tickets for the June 14th event start at $25 and are available at all Ticketmaster locations, online at www.ticketmaster.com, at the Blaisdell Arena and at all Times supermarkets. Doors open at 2:30. The first live fight is at 3 p.m. The SHOWTIME portion of the card begins at 4 p.m. Hawaiian time.

In the co-feature, Gracie jiu-jitsu black belt Nick Diaz (16-7) of Stockton, Calif., faces Muhsin Corbbrey (7-2) of Hilton Head, S.C.

Also on the SHOWTIME telecast, former EliteXC 185-pound champ Murilo “Ninja"? Rua (15-8-1) of Brazil will meet Tony Bonello (16-0-1, 1 NC) in a matchup at 185; Brazil’s highly regarded Rafael Feijao (5-1) meets Wayne Cole (11-6) of Oklahoma City, Okla., at 205 pounds and heavyweight prospect Dave “Pee Wee"? Herman (10-0) of Indiana takes on Ron Waterman (15-5-2) of Greeley, Colo.

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