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Round One: Three Rounds = Three Tap Outs
Drew Fickett entered Shine Fights III winning just one of his last six fights, but he left Shine Fights III as the tournament champion. Drew Fickett did it in impressive fashion, winning all three fights but submission and all three victories happened within the opening round. Drew Fickett defeated Elite XC veteran Charles Bennett, the previously undefeated Dennis Bermudez and WEC veteran Carlo Prater to gain the trophy. Drew Fickett now looks like a revitalized MMA fighter and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him pop up in the UFC or Strikeforce in the near future.
Next Round For Drew Fickett: If he remains in Shine Fights, both Shannon Gugerty and Rich Crunkilton are name fighters that would give a challenge.
Next Round For Charles Bennett: James Warfield and Kyle Baker would make for fun brawls.
Next Round For Dennis Bermudez: More ground training before hunting Drew Fickett.
Round Two: A Fighters Heart
Carlo Prater is one of a small list of fighters who could claim o have lost twice in the same night and still competed in the finals of a tournament. Carlo Prater lost in the first round via controversial decision to Rich Crunkilton, but was brought back into the tournament after Rich Crunkilton was deemed medically unable to continue. Carlo Prater would defeat tournament reserve Charlie Brown in the semi-finals before losing to Drew Fickett in the finals. Despite leaving the tournament with a losing record, Carlo Prater showed tons of heart in his twenty plus minutes of MMA competition.
Next Round For Carlo Prater: A match with Kyle Baker (who he was supposed to meet in the semi-finals) or a rematch with Rich Crunkilton.
Next Round For Rich Crunkilton: A match with Kyle Baker, Charlie Brown or Drew Fickett (which he could met if he wasn’t injured in the opening round).
Round Three: This Is An MMA Fight, Not A Royal Rumble
I am a fan of MMA fights happening in either a cage or in a ring, but somebody in Shine Fights forgot to tighten the ropes on Friday Night, because some of those fights featured “battle royal-like†moments. Fighters like James Warfield, Kyle Baker, Rich Crunkilton and Carlo Prater all took falls through the ropes and onto tables, cameras and the arena floor. The worst tumble may have come from James Warfield, who attempted a flying knee strike on Kyle Baker and flew over the top rope and straight onto a table. If Shine Fights continues to use a ring in the future, that is completely fine, but make sure the conditions are safe for fighters to compete in.
Next Round For The Shine Fights Ring: Rope tightening would be nice.
Round Four: Calling In The Reserve
Prior to the pay-per-view going live on Friday Night, Charlie Brown won a preliminary fight that gave him an opportunity to compete in the tournament if a fighter is injured. That opportunity was given to Charlie Brown, who replaced a victorious but injured Kyle Baker in the semi-finals. Charlie Brown was unable to capitalize on the opportunity though, as he fell to Carlo Prater via unanimous decision. In the end though, Charlie Brown went from an unknown preliminary fighter who wound up in the first ever Shine Fights pay-per-view.
Next Round For Charlie Brown: More training with WEC Lightweight Champion Ben Henderson.
Round Five: 1993 Called, They Want Their Color Commentator Back
When Shine Fights went live at 9pm EST., the first voice to hit the airwaves was Bruce Beck and I was instantly sent back in time to UFC 1. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, Bruce Beck was one of the original members of the UFC broadcast team, along with NFL Hall Of Fame member Jim Brown. Bruce Beck, although not perfect, did an admiral job of calling the seven fights that aired on pay-per-view. It will be interesting to see if Bruce Beck will return to calling MMA action or if it was just a one time occurrence.
Next Round For Bruce Beck: Hopefully calling more MMA action.
You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com
