Shine Fights is letting fans decide the first round match-ups for their upcoming one night tournament. I'm not going to focus on the PR move by Shine of allowing fans to pick match-ups. The focus of this is on the one night tournaments. More specifically is fighter safety taking a back seat for one night tournaments?

The NFL has been battling it's own PR battle involving concussions and now has come full circle to admitting there is a problem with concussions. One of the things they are doing now is partnering with the CDC to help get the word out about the dangers of concussions.

From the CDC website:

Beginning during the 2010 season, a poster on concussion in sports will be displayed in every NFL locker room nationwide. The poster, developed for NFL players, is the result of a joint effort between the NFL, NFL Players Association, CDC, Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society, and the NFL Physicians Society and describes the importance of recognizing a concussion, taking time to recover, and not returning to play too soon.

CDC encourages you to talk with your coaches, parents, athletes, and others about concussion in all sports and the steps to take to help prevent, recognize, and respond to this serious injury. By knowing the facts about concussion and when athletes can safely return to play, we can help athletes of all ages stay active and healthy.

http://www.cdc.gov/concussion/sports/nfl_poster.html

Here is some info from the CDC on concussions:

A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury, or TBI, caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head that can change the way your brain normally works. Concussions can also occur from a blow to the body that causes the head to move rapidly back and forth. Even a "ding," "getting your bell rung," or what seems to be mild bump or blow to the head can be serious.

Repeated mild TBIs occurring over an extended period of time (i.e., months, years) can result in cumulative neurological and cognitive deficits. Repeated mild TBIs occurring within a short period of time (i.e., hours, days, or weeks) can be catastrophic or fatal.3

General Tips to Help Aid in Recovery:

• Get lots of rest. Don't rush back to daily activities such as work or school.
• Avoid doing anything that could cause another blow or jolt to the head.
• Ask your health care professional when it's safe to drive a car, ride a bike, or use heavy equipment, because your ability to react may be slower after a brain injury.
• Take only the drugs your health care professional has approved, and don't drink alcohol until your health care professional says it's OK.
• Write things down if you have a hard time remembering.
• You may need help to re-learn skills that were lost. Your health care professional can help arrange for these services.4

All that from the CDC on concussions.

Now back to Shine Fights. Well not so much Shine Fights but the post Luke Thomas made about Shine's PR release on their one night tourney. In that post here: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2010/8/23/1638636/in-their-quest-to-mold-shine#comments

I made a comment about not wanting to see one night tournaments because of fighter safety. I posted some similar information about concussions like I posted above and tried to make a case that fighters need to be protected from themselves. That means no one night tourneys where they can go back out and fight again the same night after suffering a concussion. This was the reply I got to that comment:

I like one night tourneys, I was happy to see the large majority that wanted see more on that SF text poll(85% for I believe). Why would you become a professional fighter if you really cared about your brain anyway, it up to the fighter to decide.

I'm making a case we need to protect the fighters from themselves and someone replies "Why would you become a professional fighter if you really cared about your brain anyway. it up to the fighter to decide."

Huh? What? Nothing like making my case for me.

I could also add all the recent links to screwed up Athletic Commissions and poor reffing to maybe further my point but I hope everyone takes that into consideration.

The NFL has finally come out of the dark ages and is taking concussions seriously and MMA is going back into the dark ages with these one night tournaments. We don't need one night tournaments to be entertained with MMA. We need healthy fighters to be entertained with MMA.