Grove, Minowa On Weight for ProElite 3 Showdown

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After an up-and-down 13-fight stint in the UFC, Kendall Grove will be hunting for his second straight win outside of the Octagon in his native Hawaii on Saturday night.

Grove tipped the scales at 185 pounds for his middleweight bout with Ikuhisa Minowa (185) in the ProElite 3 headliner at the Neil S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. The eight other competitors scheduled for the evening's main card also met their contracted weights at Friday's weigh-in without issue.

In his first fight outside the UFC in more than five years, Grove submitted fellow UFC veteran Joe Riggs with a rear-naked choke in 59 seconds at ProElite "Arlovski vs. Lopez" in August. "The Ultimate Fighter 3" alumnus had dropped his past two fights, losing decisions to Demian Maia at "The Ultimate Fighter 12" Finale and to Tim Boetsch at UFC 130. "Da Spyder" owns notable wins over Ed Herman, Alan Belcher, Evan Tanner and Jake Rosholt in his professional career.

A veteran of the Pride, Dream, Deep and Pancrase promotions, Minowa will make his first appearance on U.S. soil in 92 professional fights. The 36-year-old native of Hashima, Japan is currently on a five-fight unbeaten run, with his most recent triumph coming against Dev Kumar Ghimire in December. The Kuma Gym representative has finished 36 of his 52 victories by way of submission and has fought against many of the sport's biggest names, including Quinton Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, Ricardo Almeida, Paulo Filho and Mirko Filipovic.

Pro Elite 3 "Grove vs. Minowa," which airs on HDNet at 10 p.m. ET/ 7p.m. PT, features a women's bantamweight bout pitting Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann (135) against former Smackgirl champion Hitomi Akano (135). Also on tap is a pair of semifinal bouts in the promotion's heavyweight grand prix: Jake Heun (233) takes on Richard Odoms, while Ryan Martinez (262) locks horns with Cody Griffin (258). Rounding out the main card is a heavyweight tilt between Tasi Edwards (215) and Pat Cummins (215) and a middleweight scrap between Brent Schermerhorn (185) and Kaleo Gambill (184).

Pro Elite 3 Grove vs. Minowa
Saturday, Jan. 21
Neil S. Blaisdell Center
Honolulu, Hawaii

Kendall Grove (185) vs. Ikuhisa Minowa (185)
Sara McMann (135) vs. Hitomi Akano (135)
Jake Heun (233) vs. Richard Odoms (262)
Ryan Martinez (262) vs. Cody Griffin (258)
Tasi Edwards (215) vs. Patrick Cummins (215)
Brent Schermerhorn (184) vs. Kaleo Gambill (184)
Steven Saito (145) vs. Toby Misech (147)
Ilima Maiava (202) vs. Tatsuya Mizuno (204)
Collin Mansanas (175) vs. Bryson Kamaka (175)

Greg Savage contributed to this report.