May 18, 11:18 AM
San Jose MMA ExaminerPhil Lanides
There is a lot being said and written about the cancellation of the Shine Fights show on Saturday night. Most of it is coming from people that were not there, have nothing to do with Shine, and can only go off of what others in the same position as them are saying. That is the catch-22 of the Internet: you can get a ton of information off of it, but people can say whatever they want without providing any sort of proof.
I work for Shine. I was there. I know what happened from my perspective. Regardless, I’m not going to waste time trying to refute everything being said and convince everyone of the truth. It was a bad experience, for the most part, and there’s no getting around that. People got emotional, people got angry, people got sad, and things went wrong. Again, there’s no skirting that. There are still fingers being pointed at Shine, at the North Carolina commission, at Don King. The truth is that there is blame to be shared all around. But that won’t be the focus of this commentary. Instead, I am going to focus on the positive things that I experienced while I was there.
I met some great people while I was there. Augusto Oliviera, the manager of Chute Boxe, is such a wonderful, warm human being. I got to hang out with him, his wrestling coach, Christopher, and his fighters, Luiz Azeredo and “Cacareco.” We talked about the sport of MMA, and his passion came through. Even as things became difficult, Augusto tried to stay positive. I hope that he’s someone I continue to have a relationship with. In addition, I got to know Eduardo Alonso, the manager for Ninja and Shogun Rua. He’s a straight shooter with a keen mind. I enjoyed my interaction with him, as well. Team Quest manager Robert Follis is a fountain of information, and so knowledgeable of the fight game. I thoroughly enjoyed talking MMA with him.
As far as the fighters go, I got to know several of them while I was there. Nick Thompson and Derrick Noble were two guys that I got to hang out with. They are hilarious. Nick’s sense of humor and relaxed demeanor helps keep things in perspective, while Derrick does a masterful job of taking all of “The Goat’s” verbal jabs in style. Din Thomas was so professional, facilitating just about every media request we gave him. He took Ricardo Mayorga’s antics in stride, which is probably more than fighters would have done in his situation. David Heath was a late addition to the event, but was calm and gregarious the whole time. And who can forget the defending ADCC champion, Braulio Estima? One of the friendliest people you could meet, and a true pro. He was happy to be there, and I truly hope that we will see him fighting soon.
From the production side, TV producer Brian Ricco, director Chuck McKean, and Crown Coliseum publicists Jennifer Martin and Natalie Lewis were a joy to work with. We were all in this thing together, and no matter how difficult things got, these folks never gave up. I will always appreciate their willingness to work together.
So, the question many have is what the future holds for Shine. Only God can truly know that. But I am an optimistic person, for the most part. I do believe the promotion will learn from its mistakes, and that we will see a third event from them. It’s bad right now, but things will get better. The MMA world should want to see promotions succeed, as it’s the only way the sport will continue to grow. Hopefully, Shine will be a part of that growth.
