Wes Sims of Ohio was awarded a controversial victory over Hawai'i's Kimo Leopoldo in the main event of the X-1 World Events mixed martial arts card last night.

A crowd of around 3,000 at the Blaisdell Center Arena expressed its confusion and disappointment when the referee stopped the bout, 3 minutes, 21 seconds, into the first round. Leopoldo's nose was bleeding profusely throughout the round, but Sims said the victory came via technical knockout.

"I hit him once in the face, and I saw his eyes roll back," Sims said. "Then I hit him again and the ref came in and stopped it."

The bout was halted twice in the first round because Leopoldo's nose was bleeding excessively. After the second stoppage, Leopoldo shook Sims' hand, making it appear as if the fight was over.

"I was taking off my gloves; I thought it was done," Sims said. "It was kind of weird."

However, the ringside doctor cleaned the cut and the bout was continued.

Oddly enough, Leopoldo appeared to be winning in the early moments of the bout. Leopoldo got cut early in the first round, but still managed to stay on top of Sims for most of the round.

Leopoldo dropped to 9-7-1; Sims improved to 15-8-1.

In the semi-main event, Waipahu's Falaniko Vitale made a successful return to the ring with a stunning knockout victory over Houston's Timothy Williams.

Vitale worked his way on top of Williams and then unleashed a series of elbow shots to the head that knocked Williams unconscious, 2 minutes, 48 seconds, into the first round.

Vitale, who was coming off three consecutive main event losses in the Icon Sport organization, improved to 21-6. Williams dropped to 7-6.

Vitale fought in the 205-pound class last night. Most of his previous bouts were in the 185-pound division.

PRELIMINARY FIGHTS

170 pounds: Adam Lynn def. Mark Moreno by decision. Super heavyweight: Eric Pele def. Vince Lucero by decision. Heavyweight: Scott Junk def. Corey Salter by decision. 205: Alex Steibling def. Augie Padeken by decision. Women, 125: Sally Krumdiack def. Brittany Pullem by KO punches, 0:06 into second round. 145: Ed Newalu def. Dave Moreno by decision. Heavyweight: Justin McCully def. Derek Thornton by choke submission, 2:20 into first round. 185: Steve Byrnes def. Joshua Ferreira by choke submission, 2:22 into first round.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.