D.C. MMA fans, rejoice: there's a big MMA tournament coming to the D.C. area next month.
According to SB Nation's Bloody Elbow, there will be a one-day, eight-fighter single-elimination tournament put on by Shine Fights Promotions at the Patriot Center on September 10. This is commonly known as a "Grand Prix" format, which, according to Shine Fights' press release, is the first such event to be held in the U.S. in 15 years.
I'm no MMA fan, but this sounds really cool. However, there are some problems, as Luke Thomas discusses on Bloody Elbow. Chief among them is this question: can the event actually sell out and get the kind of coverage it probably deserves? There's reason to be worried that it won't.
Thomas' concerns, in order:
- The announcement came only a month before the date of the actual event, which is problematic because D.C. isn't exactly the most MMA-friendly market in the world.
- There hasn't been much advertising for the event.
- None of the fighters, with the possible exception of Baltimore native Devin Price, are local.
- The Grand Prix format is pretty dangerous.
- Finally, this is happening the same week as Redskins-Cowboys, and as we all know, football can dwarf a lot of events in this town.
To this untrained MMA fan, those concerns sound pretty legit. You have to credit Shine Fights' originality, but clearly it's preparation could be better.
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