When the Shine Fights card, Worlds Collide: Mayorga vs. Thomas, collapsed under the weight of legal pressure from Don King aimed at Ricardo Mayorga, lots of fighters and managers began grumbling about paychecks.

Shine Fights CEO Devin Price begs to differ.

Augusto Oliveira and fighter Zac George were at the front of the line complaining, but Price told www.mmajunkie.com that his promotion dug into their pockets to make certain the contracted fighters didn’t come up empty.

Price points the contract the fighters and managers signed as evidence that his promotion met its obligations.

Fighter shall not be entitled to receive any compensation in the event Fighter’s match or the Events are canceled prior to the Arrival Date. If Fighter’s match or the Event are canceled on or after the Arrival Date, Company may in its discretion pay Fighter Twenty-Five Percent (25%) of the compensation Fighter would have received for participating in the Event (excluding the bonus for being declared the winner).

“Augusto knew the terms of the contract between Shine and his fighters,” Price said. “These are the contracts that both ‘Cacareco’ and Luiz Azeredo signed. Shine is a fighter’s organization. I basically decided to pay ‘Cacareco’ and Azeredo 35 percent instead of 25 percent because at the end of the day, Shine is a fighter’s organization, and we wanted to extend a hand to these fighters. We really believe that, and we hold them in high regards and wanted to really show the fighters respect.”

Following the cancellation of the event on May 15, Shine Fights broadcaster Karyn Bryant reported on her Twitter account that all fighters would receive 25 percent of their show money. Bryant later clarified that different fighters were scheduled to receive different amounts. Some fighters had the language of the contract adjusted so that they would receive their full show money. Azeredo and Ferriera weren’t on that list.

Price said he agreed to pay the pair in a gesture of goodwill.

Oliveira still insists no payment was made.

“Augusto wanted me to wire transfer the money to a friend of his because he did not want the money sent to Brazil,” Price said. “So I wire transferred the money in the amount of $14,600, which actually represents 35 percent rather than 25 percent. That was wire-transferred to [Oliveira's friend's] account at Bank of America in Boston, which I approved of. That kind of handles the wire transfer. The money was wired to him. I have proof to show the money was wired to him, and it was actually done on May 21. Whether or not he’s received the money, that’s something he needs to take up with his colleague or his partner. That’s not for us. At this point in time, $14,600 is out of my account. … I did what he wanted me to do. That was May 21 when the money was sent over.”

Price insists he’s done all he can do to please the two Chute Boxe fighters, even though he wasn’t contractually obligated to do so.

“In the contracts they both signed, we did not have to pay the fighters anything. I chose to pay them 35 percent and even go above the stated 25 percent in there. Even still, it’s at our discretion to pay fighters after an event is canceled. We honored the contract. We paid for the per diem. We paid for the hotel. We paid for all the air travel and everything else, and 99 percent of all the promoters in the U.S. probably would not have paid, as we all know from past experiences,” Price said. “It’s important to me that we’re not seen as this kind of organization because I paid 35 percent rather than 25 percent for a fight that never even happened and for a fight that we did not cancel.”

Price maintains that his organization fulfilled its obligations, and in some cases, went beyond the strict terms of the contracts.

“That’s exactly what we did at the end of the day: we did take care of them,” Price said. “Taking care of them did not necessarily mean paying them everything. It didn’t mean paying them their full purse. I’m not going to lie. There’s several fighters out there that are upset because they wanted their full purse. At the end of the day, we are a company. We have to thrive. We can’t go under because of one event. … I never stated the percentage we were going to pay them. I was never paying them 100 percent.

“We have paid the guys that are going to be paid. We did take care of the fighters at the end of the day. There are a select few – a very small amount – that have not been paid. There were some people that were paid very late, but at the end of the day, the majority of individuals on that card got paid, and we went far and above beyond the contract. The main thing I want to state is what’s in that contract. That is it. Whatever we did was above and beyond,” Price said. “We’re a fair organization. We try and do things right.”

Price insists his promotion isn’t in danger of failing and believes his promotion is stronger than ever.

“This was just a hiccup along the way, and we’re going to keep moving forward,” he said. “We’re a resilient organization, and all the people within the organization at this point are very resilient, and we’re excited about out future, and that’s really it. I just want to start looking at the future rather than just looking at the past. At the end of the day, we know that we did right. We’re very excited about the future, and we’re not going anywhere. We’re going to do right by our fighters. At the end of the day, we’re still a fighter’s organization, and being a fighter’s organization is what matters to us most.”