Note: This was written before the fights but I didn’t get a chance to post it until now.

Over the past year Robbie Lawler has been forced to back out of scheduled Icon Sport middleweight title defenses against Kala Kohole Hose more than once because of injuries.

The inactivity caused ProElite to strip Lawler of the belt and has led us to tonight where Hose (5-1) finally gets his shot at the gold against “The New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni (10-8) in his home state of Hawaii at Icon Sport: “To Hell and Back.”

The event will not be televised, but will be streamed for FREE on ProElite.com starting at 8 p.m. ET.

Baroni’s last fight was a title fight against Frank Shamrock back in June. He lost the fight and afterwards tested positive for steroids. Baroni has been serving a suspension stemming from that positive test and tonight will be his first fight back.

Hose has been waiting patiently for his shot at the Icon belt for the better part of a year now. The Hawaiian-based organization seems tailor made for the islander, with most of Icon’s show being held in the “Aloha State.”

The crowd will surely be behind Hose tonight and Hose should be able to feed off that energy.

It should be a slugfest from start to finish. Both guys have heavy hands and like to stand and trade. I think Hose has a little more power than Baroni since he is a naturally bigger guy, but this fight is a toss up.

I would say Hose has the advantage fighting at home, but Baroni plays the bad guy role as good as anyone and should be able to neutralize the “home ring advantage.”

This fight is going to come down to whoever lands the hardest cleanest punch, and I’m calling a win for Hose.

Prediction: Hose 1st round KO.

The Icon Sport featherweight title will also be on the line tonight when Sadhu Bott and Bronson Pieper clash. Both fighters are 2-0 fighting for Icon and this should be a fun fight to watch. Pieper has more power in the stand up game and I think he’ll catch Bott sometime late in the first round or early in the second.

Prediction: Pieper 2nd round tko.

The other fights on the card are as follows:

Jeremy Williams vs. Auggie Padekan: Williams is a converted boxer who is undefeated and Padekan is a submission expert. It’s a nice clash of styles.

Tyson Nam vs. Russell Doane: Nam is super quick and fun to watch

Ross Ebanez vs. Brennan Kamaka:  We last saw Ebanez get knocked out by Eddie Alvarez at ShoXC in January. He’ll be looking to rebound in front of his home crowd.

And the undercard:

Wayne Perrin vs. Koa Ramos
P.J. Dean vs. Eddie Rincon
Matt Comeau vs. Elias De Los Reyes
Nui Wheeler vs. Jay Bolos
Alan Lima vs. David Padilla
Dwayne Haney vs. Zack Rapal
Colin MacKenzie vs. Ricky Wallace
Konale vs. Ikaika Moreno

Go to ProElite.com and sign up to be a member (it’s free) and you’ll be able to watch the fights starting at 8 p.m. ET. It should be a fun card.  We all know the Hawaiians like to fight and there are plenty of them on this card.