Hazel Nahienaena ready for bare knuckle debut at Blaisdell
When Hazel Nahienaena steps into the ring at Blaisdell Arena for the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, she'll carry more than a fight record with her. She'll carry a story she spent years learning to tell out loud — one of abuse, survival, and a moment at a Wai’anae boxing club that changed everything.
"Mentally, I think I'm in the best place I've ever been in my career," Nahienaena said ahead of the event. "I feel so confident, so calm and centered, more so than I ever have before."
"I want them to see hope. I want them to know they can be more than their circumstances."
The fight — her first sanctioned bare knuckle bout — is against Kat Rabellizsa, a familiar face. The two were once teammates, which Nahienaena says makes this matchup all the more charged. She's been sharpening the fundamentals of strict boxing in camp, focused on defense and power exchange against an opponent she knows is tough.
But the real story is what brought her here. Growing up in Wai’anae, Nahienaena endured abuse at the hands of her father, a military man who raised her with rigorous discipline and put her in martial arts from the time she could throw a punch. Sparring with him wasn't really sparring — she wasn't allowed to punch back.
The turning point came at Wai’anae Boxing Club. While her father worked the heavy bag across the gym, Nahienaena found herself at the bag with a coach beside her — and something broke open. "I just start letting go on the bag like I've never done before," she recalled. "I felt, for the first time in my life, some kind of control and some kind of empowerment."
"This doesn't have to be abuse for me anymore. This is something I can express myself through."
That moment is the foundation of everything. Nahienaena now calls herself a martial artist — not just a boxer, not just an MMA fighter — and she carries the title "Sweet Hawaiian Girl, Warrior of Love" as a reflection of how far she's come. She's been public recently about her past, and says she feels a responsibility to use her platform for kids from similar backgrounds, especially on the West Side.
"There are so many of us who have gone through trauma and we don't know how to process it," she said. "I want them to know you're not alone, you're not unseen, you are worthy — and you can be more than your circumstances."
The BKFC event at Blaisdell marks the first major bare knuckle show in Hawaii's history, with MMA champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane serving as an ambassador for the card. For Nahienaena, fighting in that arena isn't just a career milestone. It's the moment everything she's worked toward comes into focus.
"This is everything to me," she said. "I've been doing this my entire life, preparing for this moment."