When Rumble on the Rock was first held in Hilo in 2002, Ross “The Boss” Ebanez was a purple belt in jiu-jitsu and green to the mixed martial arts scene.
The 1993 Hilo High graduate is now 39 years old, a black belt in jiu-jitsu and regarded as one of the originals among the local MMA fighting greats.
Ebanez is 10-2 in fights on the Big Island, where his last bout in Hilo was ROTR – BJ Penn Presents: Just Scrap in 2010, when he submitted Kona Ke.
In a monster card Just Scrap on Friday at the Edith Kanaka’ole Multipurpose Stadium, Ebanez (20-9-3, win-loss-draw) will headline the main event against Collin Reuter (10-3-1), from Canada’s Team Alaska, in a 170-pound welterweight fight.
In the semi-main, it’s Toby “2 Quick” Misech against Josey Wells, from Team Alaska, in a 135-pound bantamweight battle.
“Iron” Mike Aina will take on Bill Zimmerman, from Team Alaska, in a 150-pound catch-weight fight (145 feather and 155 light).
In another pro fight, it’s Paul Norman against Maki Pitolo from Honolulu’s Womma fight club, in a 185-pound middleweight bout.
There are also five Just Scrap amateur title fights on the line.
Ebanez, Misech, Aina and Norman all train out of Boss MMA, the fight chapter started by coach Chad Hao and Ebanez, which trains at BJ Penn’s Training and Fitness Center.
On the 19-bout fight card, nine competitors are Boss MMA club members, including title fighters Andrew Sanchis (205 pounds), Adam Collarile (155), Levi Agcalan (145) and Russell Mizuguchi (125).
In Ebanez’ last two fights at the Pacific X-treme Championships, a promotion based in Guam, Ebanez lost to Zebaztian Kadestam last September and to Hyun Gyu Lim, who’s now in the UFC, in August, 2011.
Ebanez hasn’t reached the big leagues, but despite not landing in the UFC, he’s fought all over the world, including Australia, Japan, Korea, Guam and the Philippines, and has a MMA camaraderie that dates back to his Viking football days.
He played running back and safety at Hilo and also was on the track and field team as a sprinter. And one of his football teammates was Tod Bello, who’s now a police detective and big-body grappling partner.
Mr. Purple
Back in 1997, Ebanez, who started boxing in the third grade, got into jiu-jitsu after Penn returned to Hilo after years learning the fine art of human pretzel bending or Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
The rule in those dinosaur days was a fighter wasn’t considered ready until he earned a purple belt. The belt order goes white, blue, purple, brown, and finally black.
“That was BJ Penn’s standard. You had to be a purple belt, minimum, to fight,” said Ebanez, who’s not only a Viking, but connected to the UH-Hilo Vulcans, too. His cousin is Briana Boyce, who played volleyball for former coach Bruce Atkinson. She’s now in the Kona police department.
And that fight in 2002, a loss to Nassor Lewis, was his first as a professional. There was no amateur apprenticeship training back then. Young cubs were thrown into the fire to figure out how to become lions.
Ebanez grew into a beast quickly, reeling off six straight wins. As the years went on, he was always a father first, husband second and fighter third.
He was married early, so his responsibilities anchored him to other duties. Then in 2009, pro MMA events fell under state rule, and promoters had to fork over various fees to the state, a reason Ebanez fought less in Hawaii.
“People ask me how do I do it? I usually have a 10 to 12 hour work day and then train for two hours,” Ebanez said. “My body can handle it because I’ve been doing it for so long. After work if I’m not in the gym, I’m doing something in the yard, just to keep moving.”
He later signed with KO Dynasty as his management company. But last year, four fights fell through. Ebanez trained, got time off from work, then the other guy pulled out or something unexpected happened.
Lion’s last roar?
Ebanez is a 5-foot-9 MMA fighter with the frame of a smash-mouth football-blocking fullback. Google an image of him back in the day and Ebanez still looks the same, older but solid muscle all around.
However, he is 39 years old. That’s old in the fight game, where reflexes are far more important than strength, especially the ability to block punches to the face.
“I’ve told Moani and Chad Hao that this may be my last fight in Hilo. I’m not sure,” Ebanez said. “I started in the tennis stadium. It’s only fitting that I finish in the tennis stadium. I’m getting older, but I still love being in the gym training.”
When Ebanez started jiu-jitsu, brothers Royden and Radford DeMotta and Kaynan Kaku were on the ground floor with him. Now the DeMotta brothers have a club in Honomu and Kaku has one in Puna.
Besides those guys, Ebanez was high school pals with Bello and JD Penn, the Just Scrap president and chief promoter. And Ebanez is enjoying training the young guys at Boss MMA.
“I’ve lost twice in Hilo. I can’t have that third strike,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of guys fighting for titles, and it’s big motivation to train with them and encourage them.
“We had a lot of people come into the gym and Chad Hao started the club and he said, ‘We should call it Boss MMA.’ I told him, ‘I’m here to help you.’ But it took off.”
Lions eventually grow old. Ebanez has a young son, so does Hao, JD Penn, Royden DeMotta and Kaku. All his life, the fighting part has been secondary for Ebanez. Family has always been first.
“We’re one big family. When we go out we’re always at somebody’s family party,” Ebanez said. “All of our kids are around the same age, so it’s a family thing for us old-time guys.”
Then after an hour-long walk down memory lane, the original lion got off the bench at the Penn gym, and went back to work with his Boss MMA club members.