Friends hook up for EliteXC title Saturday on Showtime

June 12th, 2008, 4:00 pm · 2 Comments · posted by CARLOS ARIAS

K.J. Noons was already a decorated martial artist and amateur boxer when he stepped in the ring to help Yves Edwards, a veteran of 10 pro MMA fights at the time, prepare for a fight.

Edwards, 31, was impressed with Noons, 24, who was fresh out of high school, and his striking ability.

"Yves and I go back," Noons said. "We used to work out a little bit like nine years ago. This is a guy I used to look up to. It's funny how things work out. I stick to my dream and now I have the title and I'm defending against him."

Noons (5-1) puts his EliteXC 160-pound title on the line against Edwards (34-13-1) in the main event of "EliteXC: Return of the King" on Saturday at 10 p.m. on Showtime from the Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Neither Noons or Edwards remember much about those training sessions, just that a friendship was forged and remains to this day.

"I can't even remember," Noons said. "But I can say we were good friends. We've stayed in contact ever since. I've watched his career. He's watched my career. And I think it's a great opportunity for both of us."

Edwards came away from those sessions with the same respect for Noons.

"When the kid graduated from high school, he had good standup," Edwards said. "So he came in, helped me out. He got in a few hours. But it's kind of hard to go back and think about, 'Oh, what did he do here? How did he react to these things?' Mostly, he was just there to help me out. He hadn't even fought a martial arts fight, yet.

"But he was there to help me out, and, yeah, it extended to a friendship. So much so that I was glad to be there at his first open-hand mixed martial arts fight. I was glad to see him in there. He looked really good. I remember talking to him afterwards. We've seen each other in different places throughout the years. We've kept in touch through MySpace, etc.

"So, yeah, we're friends. But at the same time we will punch each other in the face come Saturday night."

Noons made a name for himself in 2005 at the PRIDE Fighting Championships tryouts in Los Angeles. Noons ended up being named the best striker of the tryouts and signed a contract with PRIDE.

Noons picked up three TKO victories in Hawaii's Superbrawl promotion, which was affiliated with PRIDE, before leaving MMA to embark on a pro boxing career.

PRIDE got bought out by Zuffa, which also owns the UFC, during Noons' time away from MMA. Gary Shaw came calling with an opportunity to sign with the newly-formed EliteXC in 2007. Shaw, a long-time boxing promoter who was named EliteXC's Live Events President, offered Noons the opportunity to compete in boxing and MMA.

Noons had a lot of hype around him when he made his debut for EliteXC in the organization's first event on Feb. 10, 2007. Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett spoiled Noons coming out party, knocking him out at 3:43 of the opening round.

Noons bounced back, knocking out James Edson Berto with a knee in the third round in a "ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series" event on July 27.

He was a huge underdog when he faced UFC and PRIDE veteran Nick Diaz at "EliteXC: Renegade" on Nov. 10 for the vacant EliteXC lightweight belt. Noons relied on his boxing skills and some more well-placed knees to open cuts on Diaz's face forcing the fight to get stopped after the first round.

Noons hasn't fought in seven months since the Diaz fight, but he has put a lot of work into his ground game, grappling, submissions and submission defense during the layoff.

"I feel I've come a super long way on everything," Noons said. "I don't know where Yves is going to take the fight. But I train every fight as if, you know, that's what the guy has to do is take it to the ground. So I prepare physically on the ground so I won't get submitted or that I can submit, or I can ground-and-pound, or I can defend ground-and-pound. So I work on it a lot. I'm definitely prepared for it."

There are some who believe Edwards' experience and skills on the ground will be too much for Noons, but Edwards is not taking Noons lightly whatsoever, especially, after seeing what he did against Diaz. Edwards also is confident in his striking skills as well.

"If it goes to the ground, it goes to the ground," Edwards said. "I feel comfortable there. But I also feel comfortable on my feet punching and kicking. My point is, it doesn't have to get to the ground. It just has to get in the cage, and there will be a big smile on my face."

Edwards, the founder of "Thug-Jitsu," found himself at a crossroads in his career after losing five out of six fights during a two-year span before he turned things around late in 2007.

Edwards used his excellent ground skills to submit Nick Gonzalez with a rear-naked choke in the first round on Nov. 10 at "EliteXC: Renegade." He got another submission victory over Alonzo Martinez on Dec. 15 at "HDNet Fights: Reckless Abandon." Then came the flying knee that he knocked out Berto with on Feb. 16 at "EliteXC: Street Certified."

Edwards was officially back.

Edwards credits his move to American Top Team and his new training partners with getting him back on track.

"The biggest thing is having world class guys all the time every single day," Edwards said. "The thing for me with American Top Team, I don't have to make phone calls and worry about who is going to show up and try to round up a crew to get together for the day.

"For a while in Houston, I had that. We had guys go in all the time working out. We had good high-level guys working out all the time. But guys started moving away. Guys moved back to Brazil and Louisiana. Guys fell off, and I was kind of left alone.

"Moving to American Top Team, we've got everybody in the gym every day of the week. That's been the big difference for me, besides the fact that everybody in there brings something to the table. We have a lot of really good coaches thata have helped sharpen my game quite a bit. It just exposes you to what you're weak at. (So where) your game is not strong, you cana work on getting it stronger at that point."

ELITEXC: RETURN OF THE KING

SATURDAY, JUNE 14

SHOWTIME BOUTS

EliteXC lightweight champion K.J. Noons (5-1) vs. Yves Edwards (34-13-1)

Nick Diaz (16-7) vs. Muhsin Corbbrey (8-2)

Murilo "Ninja" Rua (15-8-1) vs. Tony Bonello (16-0-1)

Dave Herman (10-0) vs. Ron Waterman (15-5-2)

Rafael Feijao (5-1) vs. Wayne Cole (11-6)

PROELITE.COM BOUTS

Icon middleweight champion Kala Kolohe Hose (6-1) vs. TBA

Icon bantamweight champion Mark Oshiro (10-1) vs. Chris Willems (1-1)

Kaleo Kwan (6-8) vs. Mike Aina (8-6-1)