Former Warrior Heun tackling MMA

One is a physical, full-contact sport that takes a toll on one’s body every day.

The other is mixed martial arts.

After coming to Hawaii from Alaska, Jake Heun’s job was to put his opponent on the ground.

The former University of Hawaii linebacker didn’t do that quite as much as he wanted on the football field, but that doesn’t mean he’s done trying.

Heun has taken his love of hitting people to the cage, training at the Ultimate Fight School with UFC star Chris Leben.

Tonight, he’ll compete in his second professional fight, facing the debuting Mark Ellis as part of ProElite’s mixed martial arts event at the Blaisdell Arena.

"The intensity and the violence is there, but I have to be mentally together more with this," Heun said about the comparison between football and MMA. "I can’t go out and blow my wad in the first 10 seconds because you don’t get that breather like you do in football.

Against Ellis, the 2009 NCAA heavyweight champion in wrestling, the game plan is simple: stay away from Ellis’ strength.

"I’ve got to have more of a game plan."

"He knows what he’s doing a little bit," Heun said. "I want to keep it on the feet, don’t let him put me on the cage, and when I find my opportunity to strike go bulldog him."

Like Reagan Penn, who is making his MMA debut tonight, Ellis is a highly touted fighter taking his skills to a cage for the first time.

He won the 2009 NCAA title in wrestling at Missouri and also dabbled in football, earning a tryout with the Cincinnati Bengals after college.

When football didn’t work out, Ellis decided to train at the American Kickboxing Academy, the same place as current UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.

After months and months of training, he’ll compete for the first time knowing wrestling is just one of the many disciplines he has to worry about in a cage.

"It’s not a wrestling match, it’s a fight," Ellis said. "I feel like I’ve done the proper training and listening to what my coaches and people around me are telling me so I’ll be ready."

ProElite plans on holding a heavyweight tournament later in the year, and a victory against Ellis would make Heun tough to ignore as one of the eight fighters who will compete in the grand prix.

He’s fought once professionally in Alaska and competed in the smaller shows locally, but says nothing compares to fighting at the Blaisdell Arena.

"This isn’t one of those podunk shows," he said. "It’s go big or go home and this is the epitome of that."

It’s also a chance for Heun to make up for a football career he says didn’t quite live up to his expectations.

"I came out here kind of highly touted for football and things didn’t really work out the way they were supposed to," Heun said. "It’s nice to have something like that that I can do to put on a show for the people of Hawaii that have supported me.

"I’m exciting to go out there and get some fireworks going for those people."

The first of four undercard fights is expected to start at 5:30 p.m.

Drew McFredries and Garrett Olson will kick off a main card at 7 that includes Maui’s Kendall Grove against Joe Riggs, former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski, and a major women’s fight between Waianae’s Raquel Pa‘aluhi and Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann.