Bolstered by testimony from more than a dozen mixed-martial arts fighters, fans and promoters, state lawmakers voted unanimously yesterday to kill a bill that would outlaw extreme combat in Hawai'i.

Not one person at yesterday's hearing appeared to support House Bill 1963, which would have outlawed extreme combat bouts like "Rumble on the Rock," "K1" and "Ultimate Fighting Championships."

"Hawai'i has a reputation for fighting. People come out and want to prove how tough they are," testified Michael Onzuka, who along with his fraternal twin, Christopher, runs Onzuka.com, a site for mixed-martial arts fan information and news. "(If you ban this sport), people will go back to testing themselves on the street."

Instead, fighter after fan after promoter sat before the House Committee on Tourism and Culture and testified that mixed-martial arts is safe but needs regulation.

Another House bill up for consideration, HB 3223, seeks to add two positions to the Hawai'i State Boxing Commission and task them with regulating mixed-martial arts. That vote is expected to come Tuesday.

HB 3223 is a step in the right direction, proponents of the sport say, but it doesn't go far enough.

"We at Icon Sport respect the intended goal of this bill, but HB 3223 fails to appropriately prescribe the best method of regulation," said T. Jay Thompson, founder and president of Icon Sport and its parent company, Future Fight Productions. "Although boxing and mixed-martial arts may appear similar, they are vastly different. In order to preserve the safety of the athletes and the integrity of the sport, it is imperative that all members of the regulatory board have the knowledge and experience required to understand the complex techniques and risks associated with mixed-martial arts."

Jo Ann Uchida, complaints and enforcement officer for RICO, the enforcement arm of the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, said that while concerns for fighters' safety linger, a total ban on all forms of mixed-martial arts and extreme combat would be "problematic."

Under HB 1963, extreme combat bouts that represent an unusually high risk of bodily injury or death would be outlawed as they had been before an amended version of the law went into effect last year. Uchida has said the clause makes enforcing the ban or regulating exemptions very difficult because proving the risk is next to impossible unless someone dies.

Testimony before the committee yesterday represented an array of views, all of them in favor of preserving the sport. Tickets to fights range from $30 to $350, and some events have drawn more than 7,000 people. Icon Sport earned more than $4 million in gross revenue in fiscal 2005 and has held more than 500 bouts in the state since 1996, according to Thompson.

The sport "is a tremendous potential tax base here" and the promoters "want to be regulated," said Chuck Williams, judge and chairman of the convention committee for the World Boxing Council.

Others, including a state deputy sheriff, a former police officer and a convicted felon offered emotional, sometimes tearful testimony about how the sport has transformed their lives.

Nine years ago fighter Ronald Juhn, now 35 and a sheetmetal worker, was just getting out of jail for assault and was looking to leave a life of drug abuse and violence behind.

"My father is incarcerated, he's still incarcerated, and I wanted to turn the pattern and do something right for my kids," said Juhn, a Salt Lake resident. "I knew I had to quit everything I was doing to get to the top level of competition."

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.