The UFC’s time off from UFC 118 concludes next Wednesday with UFC Fight Night 22 and the season premiere of “The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck.” This week in MMA is a prime opportunity for smaller promotions to showcase their merit.

Shine Fights, continuing to endure bad luck and bad timing, is supposed to present a show on Friday, one that was forced to relocate from Fairfax, VA, to Newkirk, Okla. The Oklahoma State Athletic Commission, however, may seek an injunction to stop this event, reports MMA Junkie.com. The problem here is Shine’s tournament format, and what turned off Virginia’s athletic commission, reported MMAFighting.com, was a marketing push that provided fans an opportunity to play matchmaker.

Generating tremendous buzz is Saturday’s Shark Fights 13 event in Amarillo, Texas. The loaded show is co-headlined by Keith Jardine vs. Trevor Prangley and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Houston Alexander. Former UFC standouts Paul Daley and Brock Larson, and Strikeforce veteran Joey Villasenor, will also compete on the main card.

Flying under the radar will be an event commencing the same evening 3,496 miles west of Amarillo in Honolulu. X-1’s “Heroes” features two top Hawaiian fighters not competing in the UFC, middleweight champion Falaniko Vitale defending against Kala Hose. Recent poor attendance has stalled the UFC’s efforts to consider a show in the Aloha State. On August 6, a Galaxy MMA event drew fewer than 1,000 fans. For that reason and more, UFC president Dana White told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that Hawaii isn’t on the UFC’s radar, blaming the economy and stating a desire to move into a market “when we know it’s going to do well.”

The economy is hitting Hawaii, like every state in America, extremely hard. While “Heroes” has received its share of attention, X-1 owner Mike Miller admitted ticket sales have been “tough.”

“We still have this week and we’re pushing as hard as possible,” Miller told FightLaunch.com. “We’re confident the Island fans will come through. We feel that the main event of Falaniko Vitale versus Kala Hose for the X-1 Middleweight title is the best fight that can be matched on the Islands outside of the UFC and deserves all the attention it gets.”

Hawaii’s most famous MMA native is B.J. Penn. TUF Season 3 winner Kendall Grove was born in Wailuku, Maui, and top middleweight contender Chris Leben relocated to Oahu from Portland in 2007. Their presence has helped the growth of MMA schools and the overall interest in the sport. But on top of the terrible economy, a heavy tax has been placed on promoters strictly for hosting events, one of many pieces of bureaucratic red tape that has put politics ahead of the best interests of fans. White and the UFC were in Honolulu in November 2008 to promote Penn’s rematch against Georges St. Pierre the following January, which while helping generate excitement over the hometown hero was also one big tease.

“Greed got involved and it’s a travesty,” Penn said in ’08. “The real travesty of the whole situation is the children who love fighting and train in people’s gyms who love fighting now have people coming in who know nothing about the sport step in and ruin it for the kids.”

Hawaii can still dream big dreams, like a UFC event at Aloha Stadium. For now it’s X-1’s “Heroes” Saturday night that will serve as a barometer of the Islands’ market for MMA. A press conference held at host venue Blaisdell Concert Hall was open to the public and the line to get in snaked around the entire building. The headliners represent Hawaii well. Vitale (27-9, 15 submissions) is a 10-year veteran whose notable victories include Aaron Riley, Dave Menne, Yushin Okami and Matt Lindland. Hose (7-3, 7 KOs) captured the ICON middleweight championship with a TKO win over Phil Baroni in 2008, but hasn’t competed since April 2009 when he tapped to Jason “Mayhem” Miller’s rear-naked choke in Round 1.

“We don’t feel that we have any added pressure because of the UFC,” Miller said. “It’d be great to see them come out to Hawaii, but we’re focused on making X-1 the best promotion we can possibly make it. The fighters always deliver, so we’re not worried about that either. We just need to focus on the continual growth of X-1.”

The state has a ways to go to rebuild its market and earn its way on White’s radar. Step 1 is pulling in at least 5,000 to the 8,800-capacity Blaisdell Center. Without any kind of clout, Hawaii will remain in purgatory. “Heroes” may fly under the media’s radar, but a successful gate and buzz may just plant a seed.

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UFC Fight Night 22, X-1