The Weekly Wrap: May 15 - May 21

Mayorga vs. Thomas Collapses

The first promotional disaster of 2010 took place on May 15, as a pay-per-view from Shine Fights set to feature the MMA debut of boxing star Ricardo Mayorga fell apart at the 11th hour due to a combination of court action and commission action.

Infamous boxing promoter Don King, who has a promotional contract with Mayorga, obtained an injunction in a Florida court the morning of the event that barred Mayorga from competing. Shine Fights tried to argue King’s contract only covers promoting Mayorga in boxing, not MMA. Judge Marc Gold ruled Mayorga is essentially still a boxer, and the only reason the public was interested in the event was because Mayorga was going to fight, without being trained in MMA, a mixed martial artist.

At one point Shine planned to move Murilo “Ninja” Rua vs. David Heath into the main event and still run the pay-per-view, but the North Carolina Boxing Authority canceled the event. The promotion couldn’t furnish fighter purses within two hours of the event as required and a doctor wasn’t on hand in time to observe the participants before fights began.

Shine Fights’ matchmaker Ron Foster told MMAWeekly.com that he quit the promotion over the fiasco. CEO Devin Price said fighters would be paid a percentage of their fight purses and that the promotion would promote another MMA event in the future.

Price told SI.com he would have been able to deal with the issues in a more timely fashion if he weren’t tied up in court that morning in another state. Price said the originally scheduled physician cancelled the morning of the show and a replacement did not arrive in time.