Interview By: Robert Fain - (Kauai) MMA Hawaii Staff Reporter

MMAHAWAII: Howzit Tyson.  Tell us a little about yourself.  Where you train, how you got into martial arts, and do you see this possibly as a future career?

TH: My name's Tyson Hawelu, and I'm 22 years old.  I train out of Kamole Jiu Jitsu.  I started training martial arts cus there's pretty much nothing else to do after high school on Kaua'i and I like watching it on TV.  If I wasn't training I'd probably be drinking beers and up to no good.  For my future career, yea hopefully.  Keep training hard and see what happens.

MMAHAWAII: What do you see as one of the upsides of coming from Kaua'i?  How about the downsides?

TH: The upsides coming from Kaua'i is we got really good Jiu Jitsu because that's all everybody does here.  It's pretty much all ground, that's what we're known for on Kaua'i.  The downsides would be the stand up.  It'd be better if we had Muay Thai guys, more stand up coaches, and open up different boxing schools.

MMAHAWAII: Do you believe growing up on Kaua'i helped you in any way to be a better fighter?  If so, how?

TH: Growing up on Kaua'i made me a better fighter because it made me hungry, and made me want to represent where I come from.

MMAHAWAII: What do you believe are some of your strengths in fighting?

TH: My biggest strengths in fighting is my heart, my ground game, and my willingness to win. 

MMAHAWAII: You train with a high pedigree of ground fighters at Kamole Jiu Jitsu.  Who trains you in stand up/boxing?

TH: My stand up coach is mainly Luis Soltren, along with Kaleo Lopez.  Kaleo's good at teaching stand up and clinching.

MMAHAWAII: Is there anyone in the MMA world, on Kaua'i or the mainland, which you look up to or would like to emulate?

TH: I look up to BJ Penn from Hawaii.  Grew up on an island just like me.  He's the best.

MMAHAWAII: What is it about the sport of MMA that you would like to see changed and/or improved?

TH: I would like to see less rules; knees to the head on the ground, kicking on the ground, everything. 

MMAHAWAII: How would you like to see the future of the sport on Kaua'i?

TH: I would like to see more events, more fighters, and more guys from Kaua'i representing and just putting out in the cage.

MMAHAWAII: Anything else you'd like to add?

TH: I just want to thank my coaches Luis, Kaeo, Kaleo, my brother, everyone who helped me train and put me through hell.  Thank you.