by FIGHT! contributor Rhett Butler
With a steady stream of Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting cards on pay-per-view and basic cable, regional promoters are rushing to meet the demand for live MMA and provide venues for veterans of larger organizations who looking to get back in the win column. Shine Fight is one of those promotions, having developed a national brand with just two cards under its belt.
“We want to provide authentic MMA, the fights the fighters and fans want to see,” says Devin Price, CEO of Shine Fights. Price, a business professional in the health financing industry became familiar with fighting via his older brother, Team Jorge Gurgel fighrer Dorian. “I’ve grown up in MMA. I remember watching Dorian fight in little spots in the Midwest and then Thailand and then the UFC,” says Devin Price. “This was something that I always wanted to do.”
Shine Fight’s first event was held in Columbus, Ohio and featured Brian Foster and Antwain Britt among others. Expectations were high for Shine 2: American Top Team vs. The World last Labor Day Weekend in Miami, Florida. Headlined by Roan Carneiro’s first fight since his exit from the UFC, the card also featured Yves Edwards’ return to the win column, former WEC fighter Micah Miller, Team Quest member Ryan Healy, and former UFC fighter Junior Assuncao.
Recently, Shine made headlines when they announced the signing of two-time boxing world champion, Ricardo Mayorga. The signing made waves, in part because Mayorga is known as much for his antics as his boxing aptitude. The fighter is best known for smoking a cigarette in the center of the ring after winning a fight and the huge melee he started at the press conference for his fight with Fernando Vargas.
“I met Devin (Price) through a mutual friend,” says Mayorga. “He invited me to an event and after the fight I asked him if he would give me an opportunity to fight in one of his events and that’s how I started.”
Naturally, Mayorga is confident about his entry into a new realm of combat sports.
“Standing no one can knock me out. On the floor even less. The only way is if they get me in a position where they can choke me which isn’t going to happen.”
With Shine 3 on the horizon for early 2010, Shine Fights is one of the leaders of the new school. Having also recently signed MMA veteran Nick “The Goat” Thompson, Luis Azevedo (one of only four men with wins over Anderson Silva) and the former “Krazy Horse,” Charles “Kid Chaos” Bennett, Shine is gearing up for big things in 2010.
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