· Shark Fights Returns In 2011, TV Deal Likely

Shark Fights may have gone "dark" after a successful pay-per-view debut in September, but the organization has been busy making deals behind the scenes to set up a breakout year in 2011.

Brent Medley, a former fighter and the company's President and CEO, revealed exclusively today to MMASpot.net that the organization has been in talks with "multiple networks" to show live events on television in 2011. Medley was unable to speak on record about the specific networks due to ongoing contract negotiations, but he expressed his excitement at announcing a deal, likely before the end of next week.

"I want to shout from the rooftops, but unfortunately we aren't finalized in the contract yet," Medley said. "Hopefully our next show will be in March. It depends on programming and availability, but we hope to have a show in March."

Along with the TV contract, Shark Fights also could hold another pay-per-view, Medley said.

"I’d like to do another PPV in 2011; it’s just gonna depend on the network deal that I cut and what my availability to do that is," Medley said. "It seems right now that is a possibility. It depends on being able to build up some compelling fights that justify a pay-per-view. Maybe towards the end of 2011."

The Texas-based organization made its national broadcast debut with Shark Fights 13 in September, an event that featured Keith Jardine vs. Trevor Prangley in the main event. Other notable fighters such as Houston Alexander, Paul Daley, Jorge Masvidal, Danillo Villefort, and Joey Villasenor also competed at the affair. The event was met with heaping praise from fans and media, and Medley says that the event was a success for the organization as well.

"From a business standpoint it was great," Medley said. "We have been slated as an up and coming regional show and I think it showed the media and fans in the industry that we can put on a great product and it can be more than just a regional show.

"It’s helped with a lot of our negotiations. We were already having negotiations but we were having to go to them. After the fights there were people coming to us that we hadn't talked to before."

Along with a TV deal, the organization also plans to venture outside its home base of Texas for the first time as well. Medley revealed that the organization is planning on holding shows in New Mexico and Oklahoma in 2011, and he plans on taking Shark Fights to even more locales in the next few years. With the expansion, Medley cautioned that Shark Fights is still focused on building a fan base inside Texas and the surrounding states first.

The organization that has mostly offered one-fight contracts in the past and currently has about a dozen fighters under multi-fight contracts, Medley said.

"We'll sprinkle in more free agents, but I'm also going to go with the guys we have. We’ll have more freedom with the free agents so we can brand our fighters and Shark Fights."

While the news of a pending TV deal and going outside of Texas is one thing, Medley also hinted that there could be more than one deal in the offing for Shark Fights.

"I have one deal totally locked in and the other one essentially that I’m kind of mulling over."

"I don’t think any other organization, other than the UFC, has the opportunity that we have. They had the opportunity and they just never did anything with it. There’s stuff you can look at from other organizations and say 'that worked, that damn sure didn’t work,' and take the good, bad, and ugly and move forward. You don’t want to compete with the UFC, but there are some things you can look at and say 'that makes business sense.'"