ProElite 3 Fight Card: Ikuhisa Minowa Vs. Kendall Grove Booked For January

The third time's the charm.

Following ProElite's disastrous sophomore effort, the promotion has begun work on ProElite 3, scheduled for January 21st at the Neil S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.

According to reports from MMA Fighting, Japanese fan-favorite Ikuhisa Minowa (51-32) has signed a three-fight North American exclusive contract with ProElite and will debut against UFC veteran Kendall Grove (13-9) on the show's main card.

Renown for his penchant of fighting opponents much larger than himself, the 5'9", 190 pound Minowa achieved superstardom in Japan by defeating 300+ pound Bob Sapp, 350+ pound Hong-Man Choi, and 205 pound Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in succession to claim the DREAM Super Hulk Tournament title in 2009. Since then the 35-year-old has won seven of his last nine bouts, including a first-round submission of Young Woo Yu in October.

Grove, the winner of "The Ultimate Fighter 3", returns after storming back into the "W" column with 59-second submission of Joe Riggs at ProElite's inaugural show. Prior to the victory, "Da Spyder" lost three of four bouts to receive his pink slip from the UFC.