Friday’s bout will be the finale for Niko Vitale

Two months after B.J. Penn’s retirement from the UFC, another pioneer of mixed martial arts in Hawaii will call it quits.

Niko Vitale will headline his final event as the promotion X-1 returns from a three-year absence to host the first MMA-exclusive event ever held at Aloha Stadium.

Vitale will fight Jaime Jara to cap off 24 scheduled bouts on Friday beginning at 6 p.m.

After headlining 15 events at Blaisdell Arena from 2004 to 2011, the 40-year-old Vitale will end his career outdoors at the largest venue in Hawaii.

"It’s an honor to be able to fight at Aloha Stadium, especially being that I come from a football background," said Vitale, who played for the University of Hawaii. "It’s unreal to think I’ll be fighting at the stadium and I’m thankful just to be on the main card."

Vitale, who is 30-10 in his professional career, last fought in July of 2012.

X-1 last put on a show in 2011 and wanted Vitale to headline its first card since then.

After spending two weeks in camp preparing for the fight, Vitale realized quickly this would be his last time fighting.

"The people I train with and the people I teach kept asking me if I would fight again," Vitale said. "When I got back into training for a fight I got my (butt) whipped and that grind is one of the things I didn’t miss. I realized this was the last time I was going to do this."

While most high-profile fighters today make their name in the UFC, Vitale has spent the majority of his career making a living by staying in Hawaii.

He fought twice in the UFC, going 1-1 against former middleweight champion Matt Lindland, scoring a memorable knockout after slamming Lindland and bouncing his head off the canvas.

Vitale’s biggest fame came under the Super Brawl/Icon Sport banner when he knocked out Masanori Suda with a Superman punch in 2005.

He fought in three consecutive main events in less than a year that either sold out or came close to filling the 8,000-seat arena.

Vitale fought Jason "Mayhem" Miller once, and lost twice in memorable fights with Robbie Lawler, who is now ranked as the No.1 contender in the UFC’s middleweight division.

"Oh yeah, I watch his fights and cheer him all the time," Vitale said. "That was probably the highlight of my career, first against Suda and then those fights with 8,000 people in the Blaisdell. I hope some day that MMA will come back here and fill 8,000 in the Blaisdell once again, but it’s an honor to be a part of that time and remembered for that."

Friday night’s card is the first of its kind at Aloha Stadium. The Japanese promotion, K-1, held an event in 2005 headlined by an MMA fight between Penn and Renzo Gracie.

The rest of the card, which attracted 12,000 in attendance, was purely kickboxing.

The goal for this event is to relaunch X-1, which plans to hold events in the coming years.

"It’s a tough business but a lot of it is knowing what to do and how to promote it," Vitale said.

"X-1 has given me a lot of opportunities to fight and make a living so hopefully they can bring MMA back to where it was."