With BJ Penn's world championship victory still resonating around the state, several other Hawai'i fighters will be going after mixed martial arts glory this week.

"I kind of compare BJ winning the world title to UH football," said Mike Miller, promoter of Saturday's X1 World Events card at the Blaisdell Center Arena. "Everybody's talking about it, even people who weren't fans before. That's good for the whole sport, and hopefully it brings more fans out."

Hilo's Penn won the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight world title in Newcastle, England last Saturday.

This Saturday, five championship belts will be on the line at the X1 World Events: Champions card.

Hawai'i's Falaniko Vitale will be battling for the vacant X-1 middleweight (185 pounds) championship through a four-man tournament.

Vitale will face Joey Guel of Oregon in one semifinal; Ricky Shiver of Alaska will face Kenny Ento of California in the other. The winners will meet later in the night for the championship.

"Niko's been fighting most of his big fights on the Mainland the last couple years," Miller said. "Everybody kept asking me why we don't give him a big fight here, so this is his chance."

In a heavyweight championship bout, Maui's Analu Brash will face Colorado's Ron Waterman. "Both those guys look like they could be in the WWE, so it should be a good one," Miller said.

Kalihi's Mark Moreno will defend his X-1 welterweight (170 pounds) belt against Chad Reiner of Nebraska. Reiner beat Moreno in November in a non-title bout to set up the rematch for the championship.

Shane Nelson of the Big Island will face Kaleo Kwan of Waimanalo for the lightweight (155 pounds) title.

Eddie Yagin of Pearl City will defend his super lightweight (145 pounds) belt against Dave Moreno of the Big Island.

Also on Saturday's card, former women's boxing champion Mia St. John of California will make her MMA debut against Rhonda Gallegos of Colorado.

In another event this week, Wai'anae's Kala Kolohe Hose and Hilo's Ross Ebanez will appear in separate bouts on the nationally televised ShoXC Elite Challenger Series on Friday.

Hose will face Frederic Belleton of France in a 185-pound bout. Ebanez will take on Philadelphia's Eddie Alvarez in a 170-pound bout.

The Elite Challenger Series is designed to groom up-and-coming fighters for future title bouts.

The card will take place at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J. It will be televised on the Showtime cable network at 8 p.m. (Hawai'i time).

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.