Surrounded by family, friends and fans at Umekes Fishmarket Bar &Grill on Monday, Kailua-Kona mixed martial artist Scotty Hao sat back in his chair, calmly watching the MADTV broadcast of his three round fight against Jake Smith, which took place at King of the Cage: Head Strong in May.
Surrounded by family, friends and fans at Umekes Fishmarket Bar &Grill on Monday, Kailua-Kona mixed martial artist Scotty Hao sat back in his chair, calmly watching the MADTV broadcast of his three round fight against Jake Smith, which took place at King of the Cage: Head Strong in May.
Hao did not show a lot of emotion from the corner of the room, sitting away from the main crowd, where he was joined by his wife/manager Alexus Caires-Hao, even as those in attendance cheered him on, reacting to the back-and-forth action that was taking place on the two TVs in front of them.
The fight was a good one. Smith, known for his knockout power, caught Hao coming in several times during the opening round, but Hao kept pushing forward. Anytime the local fighter seemed to be in trouble, he would quickly turn the table, hitting Smith with his own flurry of punches, and peppering in a solid jab that would be solid throughout the match.
Both fighters continued to exchange punches, refusing to take the battle to the mat. In the second round, Hao caught Smith on several occasions but Smith also showed a strong chin.
By the final round, both fighters were visibly tired, but neither let up. Hao was dropped to the mat on three occasions by leg kicks, but always hopped right back up, usually to deliver a few punishing punches of his own.
By the end of the third round, the crowd in attendance in Lincoln City, Oregon, — where the fight took place — and the crowd at Umekes knew they had just witnessed something special. The match, which Hao lost by split decision, was named Fight of the Night and even had one commentator on TV calling it possibly the best match of the year.
“I thought it was a good fight, but personally I think there is a lot I need to work on,” Hao said after the match was finally over and his opponent’s hand was raised. “I knew right after the fight there were things I needed to work on, and I am glad I finally got to watch it because I was able to pick up a few more things I didn’t notice the first time.”
As the commentators pointed out during the match, Hao noted after the “watch party” that he wasn’t moving his head very much, which left him open to getting hit a lot.
“I got hit a lot more than I should have, but that is kind of my weird style,” Hao said. “But we are going to try to change it so that I can further my career in MMA.”
Hao was also happy with the turnout of the “watch party” at Umekes and added that he would not change one thing in his fight with Smith, no matter the circumstances.
The Kailua-Kona fighter, who is currently competing at welterweight and trains out of Average Joe’s gym, now boasts a 3-1 record. He will fight again on Aug. 5 at King of the Cage “Fractured.”
Hao’s opponent will be Ryan Walker, who fights out of the same gym as his last opponent, Gracie Barra Portland. Walker is 7-3-0 and is coming off back-to-back losses.