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Six days away from their planned September 10 lightweight grand prix event, Shine Fights has been forced to make a major move. The organization was not granted a license to promote in the state of Virginia, according to a report from MMAFighting.com, and the event is now being moved to an unknown venue in Oklahoma.
According to the MMAFighting.com report, Shine Fights claims the decision to not grant them a license came about due to their fan promotion, allowing fans to pick the first round matchups by voting for them.
This is the second straight event in which Shine has had last minute problems. For their May "Worlds Collide" event, they were to have a main event between boxer Ricardo Mayorga and UFC vet Din Thomas, but the main event was canceled because of an injunction obtained by boxing promoter Don King on the day of the event.
Then, the entire event was canceled when Shine did not provide the purse money for the fighters up front, as required by the North Carolina Athletic Commission, which led the Commission to shut the event down with fans in the arena and the pay-per-view ready to begin.
There was some uproar about this Grand Prix event being put together in the first place, with many parties involved with the May event still trying to get what was promised to them.
Shine is attempting to run the first eight person, one-night-only tournament since the early days of the UFC on this card. The eight man field features Drew Fickett, Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett, Rich Crunkilton, Marcus Aurelio, Carlo Prater, James Prater and Dennis Bermudez. Josh Shockley was supposed to be the eighth man, but had to pull out with an injury and Shine has yet to announce a replacement.
The event is still scheduled to air on pay-per-view for $29.99.
Penick's Analysis: With no venue set yet and this tournament being something that hasn't been done in a decade, if you're a fan looking to get tickets be very wary. The contention that it was the fan promotion causing them not to be licensed is likely spin on Shine's part because they have been placed on a list of promotions not to license by the ABC, and Virginia was investigating into the May event. They still have yet to pay a number of fighters that were promised payment and there is still a lot that hasn't been settled from the May card. Trouble seems to be following this promotion, and it's simply safe to stay cautious about them, whether you're a fighter or a fan looking to attend an event or watch it on pay-per-view, because it still may not happen.
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