Hawaii Beat
Star-Bulletin staff
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4 qualify for tomorrow's Sony Open
Scott Piercy fired an 8-under 64 yesterday to become the top qualifier for tomorrow's Sony Open event at the Waialae Country Club.
PGA Tour member Michael Allen and Nationwide Tour member Joe Daley also qualified after shooting 66 in the qualifier that was originally scheduled to finish Monday, but was postponed due to rain. Brian Miller earned the last qualifying spot after he birdied the first playoff hole against Jeff Brehaut. Both finished with 5-under 67s.
Hawaii's Vitale to fight in California
Waipahu's Falaniko Vitale (21-6) will return to the ring Jan. 19 to fight UFC veteran Jeremy Horn (78-15-5) in a superfight as part of the International Fight League event at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif.
Vitale, who rebounded from three consecutive losses to knock out Tony Williams last October, will fight Horn at 185 pounds. His last fight against Williams was fought at 205 pounds. Horn is coming off a loss to Matt Lindland, and is best known for headlining UFC 54 against Chuck Liddell, in which he lost by TKO in the fourth round.
» Hawaii's Wesley "Cabbage" Correira (18-11) will also be fighting on the mainland. He is scheduled to face Antonio Silva (7-1) in a super heavyweight bout as part of the newly formed Elite Extreme Combat promotion Feb. 10 at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Miss.
The event will be broadcast on Showtime beginning at 5 p.m. Icon Sport veteran KJ Noons will take on Charles Bennett and the main event features Frank Shamrock against Renzo Gracie. Hawaii's Ross Ebanez will also fight on the card in an untelevised bout against Mike Pyle that can be seen live on the Internet at EliteXC.com starting at 4 p.m.
» Hilo's B.J. Penn and former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver have been named coaches for this year's "The Ultimate Fighter" reality show that will premiere on Spike TV on April 5 at 5 p.m.
The show will feature 16 lightweights (155 lbs.) battling for a UFC contract and begins shooting next week. Penn and Pulver are currently scheduled to fight on the finale of the series June 23 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in a rematch of their epic encounter in 2002 in which Pulver won by majority decision, handing Penn his first UFC defeat.
» Icon Sport's next mixed martial arts event is Feb. 9 at the Blaisdell Arena and will feature the return of "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler. Former professional boxer-turned-MMA fighter Jeremy Williams will also compete, as will Tyson Nam.
Scott Junk will make his Icon debut in the heavyweight division, and Chico Cantiberos will make the first defense of his recently won 145-pound state title. More fights are expected to be announced in the next few weeks.