I'm not sure whether to file this one under bad karma or just bad business.
Shine Fights is taking another one on the chin this week, this time from the Virginia Athletic Commission, who apparently wasn't on board with the promotion's decision to let the fans do their matchmaking for next weekend's lightweight grand prix pay-per-view, according to MMA Fighting.
From a Shine Fights press release dated Aug. 23:
In their quest to mold Shine Fights Promotions into MMA's most fan-friendly organization, CEO Devin Price and COO Jason Chambers have taken the unprecedented step of allowing Shine fans to play matchmaker for the company's upcoming Lightweight Grand Prix Tournament, which will be televised nationally on Pay Per View. History will be made, as fans have never been given the opportunity to actually choose the fights they want to see. Now, they can mix and match those eight fighters in order to create the four opening-round bouts that they want to see. The combinations with the most votes will be selected as the official bouts
It was a nice idea, but probably one of those things you want to run by the commission first. The promotion recently announced the first match-up as a result of fan voting, the 155-pound scrap between Drew "The Master" Fickett and Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett.
The report also states that Shine will stick to the original date of Sept. 10 but has been forced to abandon its plans for a tournament at the George Mason University campus in Fairfax after being denied a license and will instead head to Oklahoma to a venue yet to be determined.
This is the promotion's second major setback in 2010. Shine saw the cancellation of its "Worlds Collide: Mayorga vs. Thomas" pay-per-view event back on May 15, after the courts awarded Don King Productions a last-minute injunction barring Ricardo Mayorga's participation in the main event.
Price and Co. were prepared to continue with their event and promote "Ninja" Rua into the main event against David Heath; however, the North Carolina Athletic Commission pulled the plug and reports circulated that Shine was unable to secure the fight purses in time for the event.
Despite recent claims from Price to reimburse fighters who were stiffed by the cancellation of that event, well-traveled MMA veteran Zac George (among others) insists he has yet to be paid -- even after the promotion moved forward with their upcoming grand prix.
Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more information regarding the Shine Fights tournament pay-per-view, still scheduled for Sept. 10, as it becomes available.