Hose Determined to Keep Icon Title in Hawaii
James Meinhardt Mar 13, 2008
Ross Hose (Pictures) likes to joke.
"This is Phil Baroni (Pictures)," the jovial brawler from Waianae answers the phone in his best Long Island accent by way of Hawaii.
Better known as "Kala Kolohe," Hose is your Hawaiian everyman.
Well, almost.
The 25-year old from Oahu's west side juggles life as a married man with a 4-year-old daughter, holding down a job for Keeno Farms Construction and training to become a world champion mixed martial artist.
"It's hard, but I try to make up all the time I can [at home]. Luckily for me, my wife is really supportive," he says.
In 2005 Hose made his pro debut for Icon -- called Superbrawl back then -- against IFL veteran Reese Andy (Pictures). Though he lost the fight by decision, it would be his first step toward future success.
"That was when I first dropped down to light heavyweight," Hose says with a chuckle. "My first two fights before that were at 240 [pounds]."
As he worked his way down from a hefty 240 to a lean and muscular 185, Hose amassed five straight knockout victories. Most recently he scored a vicious knockout of kickboxer Frederick Belleton live on Showtime, something the humble, young fighter never imagined would happen.
"When I first started MMA, to me it was kind of like a mistake," he recalls. "Me and my brother were training in my friend's yard, and that's how I met Auggie Padeken (Pictures). And he took me to jiu-jitsu classes, and we started a school, and then here I am now. I just wanted to stay active. I'm an athletic person, always playing sports. And after high school I couldn't play football, so I figured why not try fighting."
And try he did. Hose built on his boxing and taekwondo background from his youth, rounding out his overall game to include wrestling, jiu-jitsu and other components essential for mixed martial artists.
Recently, however, he added another weapon to his arsenal: coach Frank Shamrock (Pictures). "Kala Kolohe" caught Shamrock's attention when he knocked out Belleton on the ShoXC card, for which Frank was part of the broadcast team.
"We were talking," Hose explains, "and I cracked a joke at him like, ‘Oh, maybe I can come train with you someday.' And I guess he took it serious cause like a week later he called me up and asked if I was coming."
So Hose took him up on the offer and boarded a plane headed for San Jose, Calif., to train with the veteran fighter, who defeated Phil Baroni last June in Strikeforce.
"It was the best step I ever took in my MMA career," Hose says. "Frank taught me a lot of stuff. He told me how to tune up my training back at home to train smarter. … Frank and his boxing coach know Phil very well, and they've helped me with a game plan to beat him in the ring."
That confidence comes from good training and knowing that he has prepared himself well for the fight. He adds that with Shamrock's training, his conditioning has never been better.
"For this fight I've actually been trying to keep my weight up," says Hose, who's been dropping pounds since stepping up his cardio training. "The training was very rough -- lots of cardio and running. And I never thought I would, but I fell in love with swimming. [Shamrock] does a lot of swimming."
That's training he'll be grateful to have had when he steps into the ring March 15 with Baroni to fight for the recently vacated Icon middleweight title. Though this will be his first title fight, Hose is no stranger to training for a five-round bout. In fact, he's been preparing for a title shot since June last year, when he was supposed to challenge Robbie Lawler (Pictures) for the Icon belt. A string of injuries kept the fight from happening and eventually led to Lawler being stripped of the title last month.
"Waiting all that time was frustrating," Hose says. "When they stripped Lawler, I was kind of surprised but not surprised because he wasn't fulfilling what he owed to Icon."
Though he still wants a fight with Lawler, "Kala Kolohe" says he'd rather face him "belt for belt," meaning a unification of the Icon and the EliteXC middleweight titles.
But first Hose must capture the Icon title. If he does so, he would become the first Hawaiian to hold the belt since Falaniko Vitale (Pictures) relinquished it to Lawler in 2005.
"It would mean a lot to me," he says. "Being a local boy making a name for himself, I want to win the title and bring it back to Hawaii and keep it here."
The only man that stands in his way is Baroni, whose knockout-heavy résumé doesn't look too much different than Hose's early fight record. Surely they are two fighters cut from the same cloth.
"Hopefully we can go and let the hands fly," the Hawaiian says. "He said he gonna like swing, so we're going to find out if he really like swing or not. For me, it doesn't really matter. Either way I expect a barnburner."
And if it goes his way, "Kala Kolohe" Hose should have all the time he needs to work on that Long Island accent.
"This is Phil Baroni (Pictures)," the jovial brawler from Waianae answers the phone in his best Long Island accent by way of Hawaii.
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The 25-year old from Oahu's west side juggles life as a married man with a 4-year-old daughter, holding down a job for Keeno Farms Construction and training to become a world champion mixed martial artist.
It's a rough schedule, but Hose is staying positive and
focused.
"It's hard, but I try to make up all the time I can [at home]. Luckily for me, my wife is really supportive," he says.
In 2005 Hose made his pro debut for Icon -- called Superbrawl back then -- against IFL veteran Reese Andy (Pictures). Though he lost the fight by decision, it would be his first step toward future success.
"That was when I first dropped down to light heavyweight," Hose says with a chuckle. "My first two fights before that were at 240 [pounds]."
As he worked his way down from a hefty 240 to a lean and muscular 185, Hose amassed five straight knockout victories. Most recently he scored a vicious knockout of kickboxer Frederick Belleton live on Showtime, something the humble, young fighter never imagined would happen.
"When I first started MMA, to me it was kind of like a mistake," he recalls. "Me and my brother were training in my friend's yard, and that's how I met Auggie Padeken (Pictures). And he took me to jiu-jitsu classes, and we started a school, and then here I am now. I just wanted to stay active. I'm an athletic person, always playing sports. And after high school I couldn't play football, so I figured why not try fighting."
And try he did. Hose built on his boxing and taekwondo background from his youth, rounding out his overall game to include wrestling, jiu-jitsu and other components essential for mixed martial artists.
Recently, however, he added another weapon to his arsenal: coach Frank Shamrock (Pictures). "Kala Kolohe" caught Shamrock's attention when he knocked out Belleton on the ShoXC card, for which Frank was part of the broadcast team.
"We were talking," Hose explains, "and I cracked a joke at him like, ‘Oh, maybe I can come train with you someday.' And I guess he took it serious cause like a week later he called me up and asked if I was coming."
So Hose took him up on the offer and boarded a plane headed for San Jose, Calif., to train with the veteran fighter, who defeated Phil Baroni last June in Strikeforce.
"It was the best step I ever took in my MMA career," Hose says. "Frank taught me a lot of stuff. He told me how to tune up my training back at home to train smarter. … Frank and his boxing coach know Phil very well, and they've helped me with a game plan to beat him in the ring."
That confidence comes from good training and knowing that he has prepared himself well for the fight. He adds that with Shamrock's training, his conditioning has never been better.
"For this fight I've actually been trying to keep my weight up," says Hose, who's been dropping pounds since stepping up his cardio training. "The training was very rough -- lots of cardio and running. And I never thought I would, but I fell in love with swimming. [Shamrock] does a lot of swimming."
That's training he'll be grateful to have had when he steps into the ring March 15 with Baroni to fight for the recently vacated Icon middleweight title. Though this will be his first title fight, Hose is no stranger to training for a five-round bout. In fact, he's been preparing for a title shot since June last year, when he was supposed to challenge Robbie Lawler (Pictures) for the Icon belt. A string of injuries kept the fight from happening and eventually led to Lawler being stripped of the title last month.
"Waiting all that time was frustrating," Hose says. "When they stripped Lawler, I was kind of surprised but not surprised because he wasn't fulfilling what he owed to Icon."
Though he still wants a fight with Lawler, "Kala Kolohe" says he'd rather face him "belt for belt," meaning a unification of the Icon and the EliteXC middleweight titles.
But first Hose must capture the Icon title. If he does so, he would become the first Hawaiian to hold the belt since Falaniko Vitale (Pictures) relinquished it to Lawler in 2005.
"It would mean a lot to me," he says. "Being a local boy making a name for himself, I want to win the title and bring it back to Hawaii and keep it here."
The only man that stands in his way is Baroni, whose knockout-heavy résumé doesn't look too much different than Hose's early fight record. Surely they are two fighters cut from the same cloth.
"Hopefully we can go and let the hands fly," the Hawaiian says. "He said he gonna like swing, so we're going to find out if he really like swing or not. For me, it doesn't really matter. Either way I expect a barnburner."
And if it goes his way, "Kala Kolohe" Hose should have all the time he needs to work on that Long Island accent.
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