Carpenter vows first round KO of Fitial

Undefeated heavyweight Ed Carpenter has vowed to knockout Kelvin “The Big Hit” Fitial in the first round of their scheduled three-round main event in Gorilla Warfare MMA “Battle Ready” this Saturday at the Saipan World Resort.

Carpenter arrived Monday night from Chicago, Illinois, with a perfect 4-0 record, including a win against his fight against Arnold Adams in the International Sport Combat Federation “Bad Intentions” on Dec. 13, 2008 in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. He won by submission (strikes) at the 3:42 mark of the first round.

A natural boxer, the 250-lb. Carpenter will be fighting for the first time outside the U.S. mainland.

He said he was asked by his coach Alex Trijilo if he wants to come to Saipan and he quickly accepted the invitation.

“I’ll knock him out in the first round,” the 22-year-old Carpenter said when asked of his chances against Fitial.

Informed about this, Fitial said “tell him to try me.”

Both fighters stand at 6’3” tall.

“I’m ready for anything,” said Fitial, who has a 17-1-7 win-draw-loss record tucked under his belt.

His latest win was last March 14 in the All-Island Grappling Submissions Challenge-The Art of War III at the Hibiscus Hall of Fiesta Resort and Spa, where the 225-lb. freestyle jujitsu artist beat Francis Mendiola for the heavyweight gold.

“I just want to wish him good luck. But I think it would be a great fight,” he said.

Carpenter, who likes to box rather than get his opponent on the ground, said he is basically new to MMA and debuted three years ago at the age of 19.

“I started in boxing,” said Carpenter, who is a member of the Midwest Training Center.

Nice and fun was his first impression about Saipan as he started to acclimatize himself with the island’s tropical weather.

“I’ll do some training at the gym and stay focus for this fight,” he said.

A total of 12 preliminary bouts will be featured before the two semi main events and the main event.

Other featured fights include the bout between Mike “Ogre” Davis and Charleston Aiken and the slam-bang affair between the Philippines’ Edward “Landslide” Folayang and Saipan’s Jerome Denard Norita.

Tickets are now available at the Borderline, The Set, and 670 at $35 for Red Box, $35 for general admission, and $45 for VIP.