And that's just the undercard.

"I think it's a great idea," said Kalihi's Mark Moreno, who is one of the hand-picked "Team Hawai'i" fighters. "It's a chance for the Hawai'i guys to put their name on the map. And it's better than us matching up against the other local guys like we do most of the time."

Moreno will take on Chris Brennan in a 170-pound bout. Brennan is the head instructor of the Next Generation school.

"We don't ever have fights in California, so we're always taking on the hometown boys somewhere," Brennan said. "But I think this is good. It's actually more motivating to have all my guys here."

The Hawai'i team has Moreno, Harris Sarmiento, Bryson Kamaka, Sidney Silva, Johnny Sampaio and Kaleo Kwan.

"I feel kind of honored that they put me up against (Brennan)," Moreno said. "I know he's a good jiu-jitsu fighter, so I've been training a lot on my ground work."

Moreno, 26, is also scheduled to fight Jason Miller in a separate event July 23.

"It's a big month for me, but I have to focus on Chris Brennan first," Moreno said. "This is the biggest fight of my career and I have to be ready for it."

Moreno, like many of the Hawai'i fighters, has a boxing background.

Brennan said of the Hawai'i team: "They all have heavy hands and good chins and that makes them tough to beat. But I think that, on the whole, they lack the ground skills."

Brennan has been training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu for nearly a dozen years, but he said he does not force his students to adapt to that style.

"Everybody on my fight team has a different style," he said. "We take whatever their strength is and build on it."

Brennan's top student, Adam Lynn, will take on Kamaka tomorrow.

"There's a lot more morale when you have your whole team with you," Lynn said. "But we all have our own job to do in the ring."

The card will also feature three main event "Super Fights" in the heavyweight division.

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship world champion Ricco Rodriguez will take on Reuben Villareal; Dan Severn, one of the pioneers of mixed martial arts, will face Shannon Ritch; Jeff Monson, a submission specialist, will take on Rich Wilson.

Rodriguez, who is from New York, spent yesterday afternoon relaxing on Waikiki Beach. It is his second fight in Honolulu in the past two months — he beat Kailua's Scott Junk in another event in May.

"I feel comfortable here; I don't feel stressed out," he said. "Right now, I'm just having fun, relaxing. It's exactly what I did the last time."

Rodriguez said he expects the heavyweight bout to feature some heavy hitting. Rodriguez is listed at 6 feet 4 and 250 pounds; Villareal is listed at 6-4 and 280.

"He's going to come out blasting in the first few minutes," Rodriguez said. "I have to be careful with a guy like that because he's wild and he's very massive."

Rodriguez held the prestigious UFC championship in 2002, and said he is in the process of fighting his way back to the top.

"To be honest, I'm having more fun just fighting in the shows that are building the UFC, so to speak," he said. "Right now, my goal is to develop my game and bring it up and then step up into the bigger shows."

On July 23, Waipahu's Falaniko Vitale will defend his world title against Robbie Lawler in the main event of Super Brawl: Icon at the Blaisdell Center Arena.

On July 29, former sumo grand champion Akebono and mixed martial arts superstar B.J. Penn of Hilo will fight in separate main events for the K-1 World Grand Prix at Aloha Stadium. Officials of that event are hoping to draw 20,000 fans to the stadium.