With the UFC's championship offering on Saturday night, most mixed martial arts fans have October 14 already circled on their calendars. However, across the Pacific, promoter Sustain is taking the Shooto big top to the Pacifico Yokohama National Convention Center for Shooto's Champion Carnival, a card that will determine a 143-pound rookie champion, have the 123-pound Shooto world title on the line, and feature two former Shooto world champions and four current Shooto world champions.

In a 167-pound rookie tournament semifinal, Kobe native Yuki Konishi travels east to meet Tsudanuma Dojo's Yoshitaro Niimi, with a bid to the 167-pound rookie final on the line.

The 143-pound rookie tournament title is up for grabs in a match-up of sensational strikers, with Daisuke Ishizawa (Pictures) coming from the cold of Hokkaido to heat up the ring against Shooting Gym Yokohama dynamo "Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura (Pictures).

Shooto's storied 154-pound division will be on display in a poignant match when PUREBRED Omiya's bleached bomber Ganjo Tentsuku (Pictures) looks to break into the Shooto world rankings against Shooting Gym Osaka's No. 4-ranked Takashi Nakakura (Pictures), who returns for the first time since the summer of 2005.

Former Shooto world champions Ryota Matsune (Pictures) and Akira Kikuchi (Pictures) return against foreign opposition. Matsune, in his second bout since a knee injury that sidelined him for over a year and a half, meets Sweden's David Lejenas of Hilti BJJ and NHB. The KILLER BEE Kikuchi makes his return to action after losing his title in February, taking on Hawaii's Ronald Jhun (Pictures), who is coming off a Shooto title disappointment of his own in July.

Shooto world 143-pound champion "Lion" Takeshi Inoue (Pictures) will have an opportunity to showcase his skills against another Hilti BJJ and NHB product in Sweden's Navid Yousefi, while Shooto world 167-pound champion Shinya Aoki (Pictures) make his return to Shooto action against a fellow Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace in Australian George Sotiropolous.

Shinichi Kojima (Pictures) and Mamoru Yamaguchi (Pictures) will seek a resolution to the unfinished business they began in March, when the afro-coifed ace Mamoru puts his 123-pound Shooto world title on the line for the second time this year against the Abe Ani Combat Club product after their hotly competitive draw in March.

In the main event, Shooto world 154-pound champion Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures) steps into the ring against one of Europe's brightest young talents in Hilti BJJ and NHB stud Per Eklund.