January 9th Pros Pulled with New Commission

Due to the new and understaffed Indiana Commission the pro fights for Jan 9th have been pulled.

The show will continue with the amateur card and discounts for Feb 20th will be awarded.

Anytime you have a new commission put in place there are always pitfalls and lessons to be learned. As of December 1st the new commission was activated in the state of Indiana. With a very small staff of 3 for an entire state and no state funding for their efforts, it's created more new issues than problems solved. As such there are many lessons to be learned here. As a promoter who has put on some of the best events in the region for 3 years, I've never dealt with something quite like this.

#1. Gary Goodridge secretly took a last minute fight in Japan of which he lost by TKO. Even though the event was overseas and not under any US regulatory body, the Indiana commission still felt obligated to cancel his fight. Strike 1.

#2. Paperwork typically handled by commission reps at the weigh ins for fighters that the commission needs to regulate the event were put on me, the promoter, to be done prior to the event. During Christmas and New Year it's an impossible task which could easily have been remedied at the weigh ins by the commission as to be expected. However, due to the commission being understaffed they weren't going to be at the Weigh Ins and therefore couldn't manage the paperwork. Strike 2.

#3. Due to not getting the bout aggreement in a timely fashion with one of the other Pro fighters, his fight wasn't going to be allowed either. Strike 3.

So, the pull fights have been pulled off of the Jan 9th event and the SHOW WILL CONTINUE WITH AMATEUR BOUTS.

Let's face it, a fight is a fight and Greg Hupp has put together some very exciting matchups in the amateur division. We lost 3 fights. Though frustrating, it's not the end of the world. Some of you have purchased pre-sale tickets to the event hoping to see one or more of the scheduled pro fights and as such, everyone who has purchased a ticket up to this point will be able to bring their ticket stubs to the sales window and get tickets for February 20th's TRIPLE THREAT at a $10 discount. It's something I feel must be done at my own loss to make up for the present situation. I care deeply about Big Show fans and this promotions reputation as a whole, however, some things are simply out of my hands.

I hope everyone still views this event as something well worth attending as the Big Show staff and crew have worked extra hard to bring this event together under mounting odds, but we will pull through and hope you are there to enjoy it with us.

February 20th will feature Dave Hess vs. UFC Veteran Jake O'Brien, Roger Bowling vs. TBA and Mojo Horne vs. TBA. It will be an amazing night of fights and we will be going all out to make up for the frustration this January event has caused us all. This will be everyons last opportunity to see Roger Bowling before his Strikeforce debut. You wont want to miss it!

Thank you all for supporting our efforts at the MMA Big Show and we are sorry for any inconveniece this has caused. It's bullshit and I know it. I'm just as pissed...

The staff at the Indiana Commission isn't all to blame. I've spoken with many of them through the past couple of weeks and they are all under the mercy of state law, nomatter how wrong or frustrating it is for them. They are good people who have worked hard to help try and make this all work but it just wasn't possible for this event.

We will see you this Saturday for what will still be an exciting event and we will really put it on you on Feb 20th...

Thank you.

Sincerenly,

Jason Appleton