Just When You Thought They Stood A Chance, SHINE Fights Parts Way With COO And Matchmaker

Struggling promotion SHINE Fights has faced so many roadblocks in recent months that it’s gotten to the point where not facing a setback would be a break from the norm. This is a promotion that has dealt with cancelled shows, fighter controversies, and being forced to change venues with barely a week’s notice. But through all this SHINE has survived, and with recent signings of talent like Efrain Escudero and Rolles Gracie, coupled with rumors of an impending television deal, it seemed as if the promotion was finally on an upswing. Unfortunately, SHINE was recently dealt a blow that many are already predicting it won’t recover from.

We head to MMA Weekly to get all the details on the situation. According to their report, SHINE COO Jason Chambers and matchmaker Santino DeFranco have parted ways with SHINE. Both men signed on to the promotion after its failed “Worlds Collide” event. The event would have featured aging pro boxer Ricardo Mayorga making his MMA debut, but a court injunction filed by Don King, Mayorga’s manager, caused the fight to fall apart hours before the event was set to happen. In the end, the entire event would be cancelled.

That could have and perhaps should have been the death of the promotion, since promotions with fair more money and far more name-brand talent haven’t been able to come back from such a heavy loss (the short-lived Affliction promotion comes to mind). But against all odds, SHINE restructured, hired Chambers and DeFranco, and went about holding another event. After a myriad of difficulties that SHINE somehow overcame, SHINE Fights held a one-night-only Lightweight Grand Prix that I personally felt was surprisingly entertaining and well worth watching. For the first time in a long time, and thanks fully in part to the Grand Prix’s success, I was able to look at SHINE with something other than pessimism and outright cynicism.

But I have to say, fans and friends… I’m right back to pessimism and cynicism, and SHINE isn’t giving me much of a choice. While I didn’t always agree with him, I actually liked Jason Chambers. I always got the feeling that he knew what he wanted to do, that he had a good head on his shoulders, and that he’d rather go out fighting than sit back and let SHINE crumble around him. A lot of other executives would have simply thrown in the towel and called it a day, but Chambers battled against a lot of setbacks and, ultimately, he helped put on a pretty entertaining show. The man was probably getting ahead of himself when he talked about a major TV deal and being a competitor to major-league promotions and all that, but he dreamed big and had faith in both himself and the people behind him. You really can’t put a price on that. Or at least you shouldn’t, because it appears that SHINE has.

So, where does SHINE Fights go from here? Somewhere positive, hopefully. I won’t be ringing the death bell just yet, but make no mistake, I’ve got it at my side. SHINE can come back from this, it just seems incredibly unlikely that they will. And what about you, fans and friends? Is this a setback that SHINE can come back from, or is the double whammy of firing both your chief executive and your match-maker too much for any promotion to handle?