Shine Fight III takes shape with Rua, Vitale, Thompson, Pamplona, Estima, others

[Kebal]

While the details regarding Shine Fight Promotions' long-rumored third event have been hard to come by in recent months, the upcoming event is quickly taking shape.

Promotion officials today announced that Ricardo Mayorga and Din Thomas would headline the pay-per-view event, known as "Worlds Collide: Mayorga vs. Thomas," on May 15 in Fayetteville, N.C.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has since been able to pin down the evening's main card along with a handful of preliminary participants.

While the bout order has not been set, sources close to the promotion informed MMAjunkie.com that a five-fight main card is currently planned.

In addition to the Mayorga vs. Thomas matchup, "Worlds Collide" is expected to feature Murilo "Ninja" Rua vs. Falaniko Vitale, Eduardo Pamplona vs. Nick Thompson, Braulio Estima vs. Rick Hawn, and Alexandre "Cacareco" Ferreira vs. Jamal Patterson.

Meanwhile, in a rematch of a 2005 PRIDE contest, Luiz Azeredo vs. Luiz "Buscape" Firmino is also reportedly set for the evening's preliminary card.

Rua (18-10-1), who signed an exclusive U.S. deal with Shine Fights back in November, most recently dazzled in a two-fight stint with the Brazil-based Bitetti Combat. There, he scored a 39-second knockout of Alex Stiebling in September and a second-round TKO of Jason Jones in December.

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The former PRIDE fighter is now a respectable 7-3 over the past three years.

Vitale (26-9), a veteran of the Hawaiian fight circuit, hasn't competed since an October 2008 loss to Frank Trigg under the Strikeforce banner. Prior to the decision defeat, he posted five victories in six fights. His notable career wins have come over the likes of Yushin Okami, Matt Lindland and Jeremy Horn.

Pamplona's (12-2) highest-profile fight in the U.S. to date was a February 2007 loss to Robbie Lawler under the IFL banner. Since that time, Pamplona has earned seven-straight wins for a variety of organizations in Brazil, Canada, South Korea and the U.S. Pamplona's past three fights were contested for M-1 Global.

A 34-year-old fighter with a Muay Thai base, Pamplona holds notable wins over Daniel Acacio, Jorge "Macaco" Patino and Jose "Pele" Landi-Jons.

While Thompson comes (38-12-1) to Shine Fight on the heels of a two-fight losing streak, the 28-year-old does own notable career wins over Eddie Alvarez, Ansar Chalangov, Paul Daley, Josh Neer and Mark Weir, among others.

Thompson had won 22 of his previous 24 contests before the current skid.

Estima (0-0), the 2009 Abu Dhabi Combat Club 88-kilogram and Absolute division champion, decided to make his jump into MMA following his ADCC win. Previous champions are only allowed to compete in the submission tournament's superfights, which gave him the time to train for a fight.

Estima currently runs the Gracie Barra Academy in Birmingham, England, and has been making his way across the U.S. and Canada on a seminar tour.

Hawn (3-0), a ninth-place finisher in judo in the 2004 Olympics, made his move to MMA in 2009 after a highly decorated run in the grappling art that included three national titles.

Despite his grappling credentials, the Eugene, Ore., native has finished all three of his professional mixed martial arts fights by knockout or TKO.

Ferreira (18-6) currently carries a seven-fight win streak. All seven wins have come via submission with four of the victories earned in less than 40 seconds.

"Cacareco" has earned 17 of his 18 career wins by submission and counts notables Heath Herring, Fabio Maldonado, Lew Polley, Shannon Ritch and Bob Schrijber among his victories.

Patterson (5-2) fought six times for the now-defunct IFL and earned a 4-2 record in the organization. The New Jersey resident made his professional debut at the IFL's very first event in April 2006 and would go on to earn a pair of wins over Matt Horwich, as well as additional victories over Alex Schoenauer and Chris Baten.

Following the collapse of the IFL, Patterson returned to action in February. "The Suit" submitted Antwain Britt in just 44 seconds to earn the Virginia-based Ultimate Warrior Challenge's light heavyweight title.

Azeredo (12-8), a Chute Boxe fighter, earned the nod in the first contest with Firmino. He also counts wins over Fabricio Camoes, Paul Daley, Anderson Silva and Milton Viera among his career total. While Azeredo's career record may appear a bit pedestrian, his losses have come to top fighters Tony DeSouza, Takanori Gomi, Joachim Hansen, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Hayato "Mach" Sakurai and Ronnys Torres.

Firmino (13-4) fights for Shine for the second time. The DREAM, PRIDE and M-1 veteran made his debut for the upstart promotion this past September while earning a unanimous decision win over Ryan Healy.

In addition to these matchups, MMAjunkie.com has learned that Luciano Azevedo (16-8), Tim Boetsch (10-3) and Danillo Villefort (10-3) are likely to face opponents yet to be named on the evening's preliminary card.

For now, the full Shine Fight III card includes:

•Ricardo Mayorga vs. Din Thomas
•Murilo "Ninja" Rua vs. Falaniko Vitale
•Eduardo Pamplona vs. Nick Thompson
•Braulio Estima vs. Rick Hawn
•Alexandre "Cacareco" Ferreira vs. Jamal Patterson
•Luiz Azeredo vs. Luiz "Buscape" Firmino
•Luciano Azevedo vs. TBA
•Tim Boetsch vs. TBA
•Danillo Villefort vs. TBA

[Kebal]

Travis Galbraith withdraws from Shine Fight event; David Heath faces "Ninja" Rua

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Just days before the upstart Shine Fight Promotions' first pay-per-view event, the organization has been forced to juggle its main-card lineup.

PRIDE, EliteXC and King of the Cage veteran Travis Galbraith (17-7), who was scheduled to meet Murilo 'Ninja' Rua (18-10-1) in the evening's co-main event, has withdrawn from Saturday's "Worlds Collide: Mayorga vs. Thomas" event following a disagreement with the organization over travel arrangements.

"I'm really disappointed," Galbraith told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I was really looking forward to fighting 'Ninja.' Him and his brother are the whole reason I started fighting MMA."

Featuring a main event between former professional boxing champion Ricardo Mayorga and MMA veteran Din Thomas, "Worlds Collide: Mayorga vs. Thomas" takes place May 15 at Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, N.C., and will be broadcast on pay-per-view

Galbraith said his decision to withdraw from the card was based on a series of events that left him concerned.

"It was kind of a compilation of a few things," Galbraith said. "First off, we were only sent the travel schedule three days prior to the fight. My manager was trying to get hold of them two weeks prior to the fight regarding my travel itinerary and didn't get a rely until three days prior.

"On top of that, being in the co-main event, it was in my contract that I could have two cornermen accompany me to the fight. Also three days prior to the fight, I was told I was only allowed one guy. So we chose not to participate in the event because the contract was not being met."

Galbraith said the decision to turn down the fight was a difficult one, but he has lost confidence in the organization and has concerns that Shine Fights might not live up to the terms of the rest of his contract, either.

"It was kind of a sign of things to come," Galbraith said. "There were warning bells going off when we weren't able to track down our itinerary until three days before the fight. I didn't even know if the fight was going to happen up to that point. That was what pushed the envelope for me."

Shine Fight matchmaker Ron Foster declined to comment specifically on the matter, though he did confirm that Galbraith had withdrawn and that a replacement has already been secured.

"A five-time UFC veteran stepped up to take his place," Foster said.

MMAjunkie.com has since learned from additional sources close to the promotion that David Heath (14-6) is the replacement opponent to which Foster referred. Bout agreements have been distributed, and the new contest is expected to be finalized shortly.

Galbraith said he'll return to action on May 29 for one-time UFC fighter Bill Mahood's eXtreme Fighting Challenge promotion against an opponent yet to be determined. And while he walked away from the contest this time, Galbraith hopes to one day fight Rua under a different banner.

"I really would love to fight 'Ninja,'" Galbraith said. "That's the real kick in the nuts. I was really looking forward to this."