UFC: they say that stuff is legal in Vancouver...

I don't know what kind of quasi-legal west coast imports you guys were thinking of, but I'm talking mixed martial arts.

Saw it first on Showdown Joe's Twitter feed, but word out of Vancouver is that city council has voted to legalize the sport on a two-year trial basis.

That ruling means that UFC can go ahead and stage a show in VanCity next spring.

 

And that in turn will mean that the UFC will have touched down in two Canada's three largest and best-known cities. We all know what number three is, and why Dana White and his crew may not host a show here any time soon.

But the folks in Vancouver seem to have solved a manpower crisis and found a fundraising opportunity with one simple measure:

E. THAT Council approve an increase to the seat tax charged by the Vancouver Athletic Commission from $0.10/seat to $1.00/seat for every contest or exhibition, to go towards the administrative costs and expenses of the Vancouver Athletic Commission and support staff involved; 

Of course, it's way too early to tell if Vancouver's regulations will serve as a template for other jurisdictions (like this one) to follow. Ontario could have followed Quebec's example in regulating the sport years ago, and the more states and provinces drop their restrictions against MMA, the more clear it becomes that the folks who would regulate it in Ontario are determined to make up their own minds. 

So while the fall of Massachusetts, and then of Vancouver, make it look like MMA (the UFC, really) are building the type of momentum needed to topple Ontario, the reality is that the Ontario commission takes cues from no-one but the Ontario commission. This isn't to say the MMA will never become legal here, but that any changes to the sport's status here will unfold according to the provincial commission's schedule -- if, in fact, it has one.

Comments

[Jonathan]

Ontario and Toronto in particular are missing the boat on potential revenues. The problem I see is that the commission is out of date and biased towards MMA. A UFC event in Toronto would be huge for local businesses and there is no doubt in my mind that they could hold it before a sold out crowd at the Rogers Centre. If the commission cannot see past their own bias (kickboxing, boxing) then it's time for some new blood. MMA in it's current form is far safer than boxing and there is no reason not to allow it.