Jake Shields took care of his business in the octagon cage, and now he hopes it leads to a more successful business.

Shields won the welterweight championship tournament to highlight the Rumble on the Rock 9 mixed martial arts event on Friday night.

A crowd of around 4,500 at the Blaisdell Center Arena watched Shields win two matches to take the inaugural ROTR championship belt in the 175-pound weight class.

"I'm too tired to feel anything right now," he said. "But this really means a lot for me as a fighter and teacher."

Shields, 27, runs his own mixed martial arts school in San Francisco.

"Hopefully this will draw more students," he said. "And I hope I can get some big fights of my own."

Shields beat New Mexico's Carlos Condit in the final by unanimous decision (the bout consisted of three five-minute rounds). Shields scored numerous takedowns throughout the bout, and controlled most of the action from the "mount" position on top of Condit.

"I wanted to take him down," Shields said. "I knew I was stronger than him, so I wanted to control it on the ground."

Shields won despite entering the final bout with a gash on his head. He suffered the cut in his semifinal victory over Japan's Yushin Okami.

Shields beat Okami by majority decision, meaning he fought through six rounds on the night.

Shields, who improved to 14-4-1, entered the tournament ranked No. 7 in the world rankings.

"I think I should be 4 or 5 now," he said. "This was a tough tournament."

Despite the loss, the previously unranked Condit may have fought his way into the top 10 of the world rankings. He upset No. 10 Renato "Charuto" Verissimo de Oliveira in the quarterfinals in January, and No. 5 Frank Trigg in Friday's semifinals.

Condit, who is 15-3, stunned Trigg with an arm-bar submission, 1 minute, 22 seconds, into the first round.

In the "Super Fight," Eric "Butterbean" Esch beat Aaron Aguilera via choke submission, 1:15 into the second round.

Esch won it when he landed with his full body on a fallen Aguilera, and then applied a choke hold. Esch weighed 400 pounds to Aguilera's 251.

In the Team Hawai'i vs. Team Japan challenge, Hawai'i won three bouts and Japan won two.

"We took it," Team Hawai'i heavyweight Scott Junk said. "We showed we have a tough group of guys on this island."

Junk, Brenton Wolff and Ray "Braddah" Cooper all won with spectacular knockouts.

Junk knocked out Lee Segak with a series of elbow shots to the head. Segak was removed on a stretcher with a possible fractured cheekbone.

"I'm happy that I won, but I feel bad about (Segak) being hurt like that," Junk said. "I know it's part of the sport, but when I landed that third elbow, something didn't feel right, and that's why I got up right away."

Wesley "Cabbage" Correira and Verissimo de Oliveira suffered the Team Hawai'i losses.

Verissimo de Oliveira said after his loss that he would likely retire.

FINAL RESULTS

WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT

Final: Jake Shields (California) def. Carlos Condit by unanimous decision. Semifinals: Shields def. Yushin Okami (Japan) by majority decision. Condit def. Frank Trigg (California) by arm-bar submission, 1:22 into first round. Alternate bout: Brandon Wolff (Hawai'i) def. Josh McDonald (California) by TKO (doctor stopped bout due to cut on McDonald's head) after first round.

TEAM HAWAI'I VS. TEAM JAPAN

170: Brenton Wolff (Hawai'i) def. Shinpei Sotoyama (Japan) by TKO punches, 2:34 into first round. 160: Ray Cooper (Hawai'i) def. Koji Yoshida (Japan) by TKO punches, 2:47 into first round. Heavyweight: Scott Junk (Hawai'i) def. Lee Segak (Japan) by TKO elbows, 2:20 into first round. Heavyweight: Kazuhiro Hamanaka (Japan) def. Wesley Correira (Hawai'i) by arm-lock submission, 1:53 into second round. 185: Kuniyoshi Hironaka (Japan) def. Renato Verissimo de Oliveira (Hawai'i) by TKO punches, 3:03 into second round.

PRELIMINARY BOUT

185: Steve Byrnes (Hawai'i) def. Matt Knaub (New Mexico) by knee-bar submission, 0:44 into second round.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.