Niko Vitale struggled to get Jaime Jara off his back.
When the California-based fighter wouldn’t budge, Vitale, with his back to Jara, who was propped up by the cage, slowly moved his hand to Jara’s arm before tapping a few times.
Just like that, the 40-year-old’s mixed martial arts career came to an end Friday night in a second-round submission loss in the main event of an X-1 show at Aloha Stadium.
A pro-Vitale crowd of 2,000, which included most of the fighters on the undercard that came back out to watch the final fight, paid tribute to Vitale after the bout.
Vitale (30-11) took the microphone for close to 10 minutes and gave a touching speech about finding God and his faith that allowed him to make it this long in the sport of MMA.
"This is not about me," Vitale said, struggling to hold back his emotions. "This is about God allowing me to do what I do."
Vitale made his professional MMA debut 15 years ago and fought for many of the top organizations, including the UFC, StrikeForce and King of the Cage.
Toward the later part of his career, he fought mostly in Hawaii, headlining a record 16 different events in Hawaii.
His final fight came after a 26-month absence and took place at Aloha Stadium.
With the cage set up in the south end zone and the crowd packed into eight middle orange and blue sections, Vitale walked out to a rousing ovation.
He looked good in the first round, hitting Jara with hard punches and going to work with leg kicks that seemed to wobble Jara (37-18).
FULL RESULTS
All Friday night’s professional bouts
190: Jaime Jara def. Niko Vitale by submission (choke), Rd. 2
125: Rachel Ostovich def. Misha Nassiri by submission (armbar), Rd. 3
170: Collin Mansanas def. Blake Troop, unanimous decision
155: Kaleo Kwan def. Chris Kirtley, TKO (strikes), Rd. 1
155: Jordan Bailey def. Robby Ostovich, submission (choke), Rd. 2
149: Matt Comeau def. Jason Milknuk by submission (choke), Rd. 1
170: Maki Pitolo def. Coates Cobb-Adams, unanimous decision
145: Ed Thommes def. Spencer Higa by submission (choke), Rd. 1
145: Isaac Hopps def. Nui Wheeler by submission (choke), Rd. 1
125: Charlie Alaniz def. Ian Dela Cuesta, unanimous decision
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The second round brought more action, as the two quickly stood and traded shots in the middle of the cage. Vitale momentarily stunned Jara with a shot, but endurance quickly became a factor. As Vitale wore down, Jara took over and dominated the final minutes of the round before getting Vitale to tap out to a choke.
Jara became the first fighter to beat Vitale in Hawaii since Robbie Lawler in 2006.
Vitale had been 8-0 in X-1 events and had won six of his previous eight fights, losing to Hector Lombard in Bellator and Frank Trigg in StrikeForce.
Vitale will continue to work training athletes at the UFC Gym in Waikele and help coach at his gym. He also plans to play a role with the X-1 organization in organizing future events.
The event was the first put on by X-1 since 2011.
In the co-main event, Rachel Ostovich pulled out a third-round arm bar submission victory over Misha Nassiri in the only professional women’s bout of the event.
