How Shawne ‘Lights Out’ Merriman Turned a High School Nickname Into an MMA Empire

Shawne Merriman (Photo by Bryan Steffy/Getty Images for Resorts World Las Vegas)

Knockouts are nothing new for Shawne Merriman, the 2005 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and three-time Pro Bowl linebacker who now spearheads rising MMA promotion Lights Out XF.

His iconic “Lights Out” nickname came long before becoming the NFL sacks leader in 2006, even before his 2004 First Team All-ACC selection at Maryland. In fact, it didn’t come from his electrifying sacks at all, but instead from those gridiron victims simply not getting up.

“Back then there was no social media, right, and no YouTube — none of this stuff,” Merriman said in a one-on-one interview with RG. “So, when I first got the nickname my sophomore year in high school, I ended up knocking out four kids in one game. After the game, I had all these students come running up to me saying, ‘You knocked these guys lights out!’ So, anyway, I just told them call me ‘Lights Out.’ I didn’t think it was gonna stick. But then the gameplay too also had to match. 

Like you can’t be having a nickname like ‘Lights Out’ and not go out there and ball out, or at least play like this nickname that you got. But it was crazy man, because it was like a folktale.

"There was no social media, so just word of mouth. It was like, ‘You hear this kid out here in Frederick Douglass High School knocking people out?’ It really didn’t even get onto the national scale until my big hit that I had my freshman year at the University of Maryland against Georgia Tech on ESPN. After that, it was like, ‘Oh okay, that’s the dude that everybody was talking about.’ Then it really became a thing.”

Legends Must Be Earned Twice

Folktales like Merriman’s do more than just generate an added layer of pressure. They paint a target on your back, especially for a 6-foot-4, 260-pound first-round draft pick headed to the San Diego Chargers in 2005. Legends don’t always hand out respect free of charge, regardless of what you’ve done in high school or college. To be what everyone had said he was, no less now at the NFL level, Merriman had to solidify himself as “Lights Out” all over again, brick by brick.

“I had LaDainian Tomlinson and some of the older guys and it was like, ‘I’m not calling you Lights Out because you haven’t done nothing,’” Merriman recalled. “I had to go out there and earn it again, and for me, I was and I still am always up for a challenge. Not really the challenge of somebody competing with me, but the challenge to see if I can raise the level of everything I’m doing. I’m always challenging myself to see if I could do more. You know, even now when I lay my head down at night on the pillow I’m like, ‘Did I do everything I could have done today to get to where I’m trying to go?’ and that is just leveling up, man. I have a constant personality to level up no matter what I’m doing.”

It didn’t take long for everyone around to confirm that Merriman’s alter-ego was much more than some East Coast myth. Unfortunately, sometimes your idols become your rivals, presenting the perfect stage to prove that those you once looked up to must now look up at you.

“Everything I did was legal and in between the whistle. But I had a style of play where I was out there for 60 minutes to try to prove a point that I was the best at what I did. I think that that led me to, for one, I talk about leveling up. I can never slack off because I know eyeballs are on me, and I know that I’m bulletin board material every week that we go play somebody. Because they know if I go and have a big game or a big sack — what’s going to happen? That ‘Lights Out’ dance is coming out. You got guys that are like, ‘we can’t let this happen,’ so week in and week out it was a battle no matter what.”

Lights Out, Gloves On

Merriman started lightly training martial arts in 2006 with former UFC two-division champion Randy Couture, who he was introduced to by Fox Sports insider Jay Glazer. As he began to build relationships with MMA pioneers like Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell, and others who would also go on to capture gold like former welterweight Tyron Woodley — not to mention managers, agents, coaches, etc. — Merriman decided to start popping in gyms all across the country to spar and experience open mat sessions, ultimately falling in love with the controlled chaos and benevolent violence.

“Even after playing, [MMA] really saved me, man,” Merriman admitted.

“I’m a very competitive person. I’m very disciplined. I still wake up at 5:30 in the morning. I still train six days a week. I still have that regimen about me, so for me, it was an easy kind of transition right into the sport where it was just going to keep me going and give me something competitive to do.”

Now, in the next chapter of his ever-competitive career, Merriman has dedicated himself to elevating the next generation of MMA fighters. His promotion Lights Out XF has already held 24 events since its 2019 inception, presiding over roughly 153 matches in California at venues like the Burbank Marriott, Commerce Casino, Casino Pauma, and Thunder Studios. His last showcase featured a 49-second TKO (Jacob Allen), another record-breaking TKO in just six seconds (Jake Babian), a second-round TKO finish from Tyrell Fortune in his LXF debut, and a surprise appearance from DJ Vlad. Seven fights yielded six knockouts on the night.

“I busted my ass for two decades,” Merriman added with humble confidence. “Not just on the field but making relationships off of it. Showing up to things, media like beyond belief and staying in front of the camera. Also, you know, doing the right things so I can put ourselves in position to be able to promote these guys because that’s what they need. Some of these guys just need to be found. They need some backing. They need for people to know about them so they get those additional eyeballs. I was fortunate enough to play in the NFL to kind of create that platform, but also I’ve been around this MMA space for 18 years. If you look at some of my posts and see some of these juggernauts of MMA that have been around the sport, even the up-and-comers, these are people I have relationships with, that I know. What I’m doing is really aggregating all these eyeballs I’ve collected over the last 20 years and making these guys stars.”

Merriman and LXF will host their 25th card at Casino Pauma in Pauma Valley, California on Saturday, June 14.

“For me, to get around this again, it kind of wakes me back up and gets that kind of dog mentality back a little bit because you don’t get that anywhere else,” Merriman said.