Karl's passion for fighting and competing in combat sports influenced him to introduce his son to martial arts at a young age.
[3] Noons competed as an amateur fighter and became the first student in the state of Hawaii to earn a junior black belt under Ed Parker at the age of 11.
During his high school years, Noons moved to Houston, Texas, due to the location of his father's job.
At age 17, Noons won the ISKA Super Middleweight International Championship as an amateur in Sanshou.
Noons felt he was not ready to compete at the highest level that early in his career and chose a more conservative route.
After three combined wins under the ICON Sport and SuperBrawl banner, Noons would move on to compete in bigger promotions.
[5] In 2006, Noons signed a deal with promoter Gary Shaw that allowed him to participate in both boxing and mixed martial arts.
Soon after, Noons was set to face former PRIDE veteran Charles Bennett in EliteXC's inaugural event in February 2007.
Noons rebounded from his loss to Bennett with a KO win over James Edson Berto at EliteXC's first ShoXC event.
Midway through the first round, Diaz was finally successful with a take down, but Noons got back to his feet instantly.
Moments later, the referee would halt the fight and send Diaz to his corner to check on his cuts over his right eye.
After round one ended, the doctors in Diaz's corner stopped the fight due to how badly his face was cut.
Noons was then declared the winner of the fight by way of TKO due to cuts, and would become the new EliteXC Lightweight Champion.
On June 14, 2008, Noons was successful in his first and only title defense with a TKO win over Yves Edwards in Hawaii at EliteXC: Return of the King.
[12] After Bennett pulled out of the fight due to scheduling conflicts, Noons was rescheduled to face Conor Heun at Strikeforce: Los Angeles in a catchweight bout of 160 pounds, which would take place ten days before the date he was originally set to rematch Bennett.
The crowd reacted to what appeared to be a late punch while a wobbled Gurgel was struggling to find his corner.
Right at the opening bell for round two, Noons landed a right hand followed by a left hook that dropped Gurgel to the canvas once again.
Noons moved up one weight class to fight Nick Diaz in a grudge rematch for the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship on October 9, 2010.
Noons next faced Josh Thomson in the co-main event at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey in March 2012.
Noons faced Sam Stout in a welterweight bout on April 16, 2014, at The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale.