As this video shows, legendary UFC fighter BJ Penn is not the only Hawaiian native who embraces the ‘Just Scrap’ mentality.
The two teens in this bare knuckle street fight both show good striking skills, but more commendable is the post-fight respect that’s demonstrated between those involved.
The fight takes place on a road somewhere on the islands, with several bystanders watching on, including what appears to be older family members of the two teenagers.
The fighter in the long black shorts lands a hard outside leg kick with good form to his opponent as the footage begins, proving immediately that he knows how to fight.
The fact that the youth in purple-shorts didn’t flinch suggests he’s no stranger to martial arts himself, and the following couple of minutes see the two in a tense stand-off with an occasional flash of hands as both fighters look for the perfect moment to strike.
Black-shorts seems the more assured of the two, and his confidence rises even more when he lands a left hook counter and a right hand behind it as his opponent steps in.
That spurs him on to pick up the pace and go on the offensive, putting together a nice sequence that seems him land an inside leg kick, duck under a counter hook, then rip a punch to the body, before going upstairs with a couple of left hooks.
To his credit, purple-shorts doesn’t wilt under the pressure, but he’s not committing to his punches and is struggling to stop the momentum building in his opponent’s favor.
There’s a bit of a lull in the action, though black-shorts does continue to chip away with a one-two to the body and a few nice leg kicks, while his rival lands a single kick in return.
Then the fight burst back into life as black-shorts unleashes a swift one-two and purple-shorts returns fire, only to eat another few shots in return.
Black-shorts briefly works the body, and then steps into a hard right hand to the head as his opponent backs away, landing with an audible impact that elicits a gasp from a nearby bystander.
He continues swinging and just moments later a hard left hook lands to the chin and drops purple-shorts to the asphalt.
A knee strike on the ground follows, but bystanders then rush in to end the fight before there’s any further unnecessary punishment dished out.
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Unlike the majority of street fights, the aftermath of the fight is surprisingly civil as two men, who may well be the youth’s fathers, approach each other and shake hands, then embrace.
The two fighters are then encouraged to do likewise, hopefully burying any potential bad blood between them in the process.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t seem like a good idea to be encouraging the youths to participate in potentially dangerous bare knuckle street fights like this.
They’d be much better off developing their talents in the gym, and working towards competing in amateur bouts if they really want to prove who the baddest kid on the block is, and perhaps one day follow in the footsteps of famous Hawaiian fighters like BJ Penn and Max Holloway.
