I’ve watched several clips of younger Hawaiians fighting in the streets and they are tough and skilled but raw. We all know how fucking big Samoans can get so it’s puzzling as to why we don’t see more of them in boxing or mma?!? I know some prefer to go into the NFL but what about the rest? Is there a single heavyweight in boxing that is Samoan? In Mma I can’t think of any either
Hawaii super brawl was huge back in the day so I thought it would mean Samoans and their like would start flooding Mma but nope…
Max Holloway is Samoan. I think most of the bigger athletic Samoans tend to focus on football. You also have to look at where the fighters are coming from. Most of the fighters you are seeing in the UFC currently are from West Oahu and are of Mixed Polynesian ethnicities. The biggest Samoan community on the island is in Kahuku which is a big football area. Oahu also has a number of free PAL supported boxing gyms in many of their poorer communities including Waianae. They act almost as an after school program. A lot of the young kids have been exposed to traditional boxing at a young age. A lot of those street fights you see on YouTube are kids from West Oahu.
Most Samoans see or know of Samoans in the NFL or pro wrestling. Football and rugby are more the sports of choice growing up. There are still a lot of successful Hamos in MMA. Last year there were two title holders.