After two successful events in their breakout year, they have yet failed to produce another event in 2010–well, until tonight, hopefully.

Now, after trouble with both Virginia and Oklahoma State Athletic Commissions in regards to their Lightweight, 8-man, one night, Grand Prix–which is now being held on an Native American Reserve so that no commission can hold any jurisdiction, which is both clever and conniving–it appears that David Heath, a UFC veteran, has some beef with the upstart promotion as well.

Their last failed attempt at a show, a May 15th event which was canceled at the last minute due to a failed deposit made to withhold fighter payouts, and a late injunction cited by boxing promoter Don King who holds a contract with then boxer-turned MMA fighter Ricardo Mayorga, who was set to meet veteran Din Thomas in a catchweight bout as his foray into the mixed martial arts world–all of which halted the event to take place.

In fact, fan’s were already in the stadium piling in before the North Carolina State Athletic Commission, who were overseeing the event that was being held in Fayateville, N.C., just hours before “Shine Fights III: Worlds Collide”, was set to take place.

In said event, David Heath was tapped as a late replacement to fill in for fellow UFC veteran and former Icon Sport Middleweight Champion, Falaniko Vitale, who pulled out of the event due to injury. Heath was to take on former EliteXC Middleweight Champion, Murilo “Ninja” Rua–brother to current UFC 205-pound kingpin Mauricio Rua.

However, as the event was canceled, some fighters who have been promised at least a percentage of their money from the event have yet to receive it, and Heath is one of them.

David Heath, who was tapped as a late replacement to face Murilo “Ninja” Rua in the main event on the card, says that he has not received any payment from Shine Fights for his contracted participation on the card, and will be filing suit against the promotion next week.

When prompted by MMAWeekly whether David has garnered any kind of compensation from Shine Fights, Heath answered by text message saying, “Nope. Gonna file a small claims suit when I get back from MFC this weekend.”

Heath will partake at the Maximum Fighting Championships event in Canada tonight, and when he returns home to Oklahoma, he will begin the legal process.

So, MMA fans, what do you think of Shine Fights these days? Very promising, grassroots promotion starting out last year, but now they’ve caught a lot of flack, and rightly so. What can they do to improve? Should they be in the MMA game? Speak your minds, let your opinions known in the comments section below.

Heath never had a chance versus an aggressive Newton who held on to back control for most of the first round.

In the second, Newton shrugged off a Heath footlock, scrambled into side control, then took Heath’s back to secure the submission.

Fighters.com’s original Fighter of the Month “Real Deal” Ryan Ford (7-1) rebounded from his first professional loss to slap a guillotine choke on Miletich welterweight LaVerne Clark (25-17-1) at 2:30 of round two.

Both Newton and Ford inched closer to title shots in Maximum Fighting Championships, Newton earning the right to challenge 205 titlist “Hulk” Roger Hollett (8-1) in Calgary 5 December and Ford will rematch “Bam Bam” Pat Healy (19-13) on the same card for the welterweight belt and to avenge his only professional loss.

Light heavyweight Jay Whitford (3-0) tapped Aron lofton (3-1) in a side choke at 3:11 of round two.

Lightweight Simon Marini (6-1) won a UD over Gerald Lovato (6-5).

Welterweight Ryan Machan (6-2) tapped fellow Canadian Gavin Neil (4-1) in a rear naked choke at 2:47 of round one.

Middleweight Chis Camozzi (7-2) won a UD over Elliot Duff (2-1).

Lightweight Evan Sanguin (2-2) knocked out Troy Sorensen (3-1) at 2:04 of round three.

Welterweight Josh Russell (1-0) won a UD over Mike Gates (11-6-1).

Welterweight Jesse Clarke (1-1) TKO’d Jason Zorthian (3-3) at 2:44 of round one.

Sheldon Westcott (1-1) tapped Jeff Kilisolsky (0-1) at 3:33 of the first round.

The MFC also announced that “The Real Deal” Ryan Ford (6-1) will face LaVerne Clark (25-16-1) in the featured welterweight bout.

Heath, who lost his last three UFC fights, TKO’d Shepard Owens (1-1) in 1:19 at the Freestyle Cage Fighting in June.

Newton won his seventh-straight fight this month when he submitted B.J. Lacy (10-9-1) by rear naked choke at Pure Combat.

Ford suffered his first career defeat in July when “Bam Bam” Pat Healy (19-13) submitted him with an armbar in round three for the vacant welterweight title.

Clark (25-16-1) TKO’d Matt Kelly (0-1) in round one at Courage Fighting Championships in June.

The fight pitted former world champions from the UFC and PRIDE, but was overshadowed by the MMA debut of former NCAA and pro wrestling champion Brock Lesnar.

Significance was also diminished by Randy Couture‘s departure from the UFC while holding the title after defeating Sylvia in March 2007.

6’8″ Sylvia pot-shotted the Sao Paulo native from the opening ding and occasionally popped a power shot in Nogueira’s mug, even dropping him with a combo in the first session and again in the second.

The Miletich-trained “Maine-iac” fiercely dominated the opening two rounds.

Stubborn Nogueira had no quit, even as his face began to swell at the end of Sylvia’s tremendous reach.

“Minotauro” attempted takedowns; but, Sylvia’s balance is exceptional for a big man.

The train from Maine derailed in the third when Nogueira’s notorious resilience muscled the battle to the mat.

“He went for the guillotine, which we knew he was going to do,” a distraught Sylvia explained post-fight.

Nogueira became the first fighter to hold both UFC and PRIDE heavyweight titles when Tim Sylvia tapped out at 1:28 of the third round.

“That’s what he does to everybody,” Sylvia echoed the sentiments of MMA faithful who’ve watched a battered Big Nog pull out seemingly impossible victories before.

Nogueira’s victory sets up a possible first defense versus French kickboxer Cheick Kongo, if Kongo can beat Heath Herring in Columbus next month.  But, both Fabricio Werdum and Andrei Arlovski have claims to the top contender-ship too.

Sylvia may be headed for a history-loaded rematch with the man who broke his arm: Frank Mir.

Another former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Mir, defended MMA’s honor against powerhouse rookie Brock Lesnar by submitting him in a kneebar at 1:30 of the first round.

Mir got dumped on his ass early by the massive Minnesotan who hovered and hammered fists and elbows.

“He was so strong!”  Mir explained in the locker room.

Tactic and technique determined the outcome though.  “It wasn’t a textbook, perfect finish, but I ended up doing it 80% right.”

80% is all it takes versus an inexperienced opponent.  As Lesnar stood to yank his arm from an armbar attempt, Mir secured a leg and rolled into a kneebar.

“Frank [Mir] and I have some unfinished business,” Tim Sylvia had taunted at a pre-fight press conference.

The high profile “W” for Mir makes that rematch marketable.

At 185-pounds, Nathan Marquardt entered the Octagon off a loss to division champ Anderson Silva to fight 79-17-5 Jeremy Horn, a late replacement opponent.

The veteran Horn absorbed punishment on the mat before nearly catching Marquardt in a gogoplata in the first round.

It was Marquardt, however, who applied a guillotine choke during a scramble and tapped Horn at 1:37 of the second round.

After a four-year hiatus from MMA, Ricardo Almeida invoked nostalgia over his earlier successes by submitting another late replacement, undefeated Alaskan Rob Yundt, in a guillotine choke at 1:08 of round one.

Almeida is a welcome addition to the scant 185-pound division.

Lightweights Tyson Griffin and Gleison Tibau tussled for three exciting rounds to open the televised card.

The shorter fighter, Griffin, popped Tibau with precise punches while Tibau seemed to take down the wrestler at will.

In the end, the judges saw it unanimously for Tyson Griffin, though Gleison Tibau lost no one’s respect.

“Lights Out” Chris Lytle treated 13-5 Kyle Bradley‘s head like a speed bag in a 33-second TKO victory.

Light heavyweight Tim Boetsch reminded MMA fans of “Tank” Abbott in tossing Oklahoman David Heath to the mat and pummelling a TKO out of him at 4:52 of round one.

Terry Martin suffered another disappointing defeat, this time in a unanimous decision to “The Beastman” Marvin Eastman.

The event opened with a spirited lightweight scrap won in split decision by Robert Emerson over Japan’s Keita Nakamura.