Vancouver council to decide on MMA regulation Thursday
Vancouver City Council will finally put the issue of mixed martial arts regulation to a yea or nay vote Thursday,…
Vancouver City Council will finally put the issue of mixed martial arts regulation to a yea or nay vote Thursday, when city staff table a report on how the sport can be run profitably and safely on a local level.
Ultimate Fighting Championship Assistant General Counsel Mike Mersch and Executive VP and General Counsel Lawrence Esptein will be at the meeting, which will be open to the public and receive submissions from Vancouver police and Honour Combat Championships, one of the promotions that held a successful sold- out amateur ‘test event’ on November 27.
The agenda for the meeting can be found here.
Councillors Heather Deal and Kerry Jang attended the HCC event and came away suitably impressed with the professionalism, fighter safety, officiating and – surprisingly – the action in the ring.
“I’m actually having a lot more fun then I thought I would,” said Jang on the night.
NPA Councillor Suzanne Anton was an early adopter of MMA regulation in the city, despite being part of the Sam Sullivan-led council that backed away from the sport in September 2007, citing liability concerns.
“I want to be on this bandwagon,” said Anton. “Bandwagons come and go. If you wait too long and they’ll be over and its a very popular sport right now. I want the UFC to come! Bring it on!”
Mixed martial arts is a hybrid sport combining boxing, wrestling, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, karate, judo and more. The sport is generally staged in a cage to keep grappling competitors from falling out of the ring, and a large number of former and current Olympians have either switched to the sport or announced plans to do so.
COPE councillor David Cadman remains “staunchly opposed” to MMA, telling reporters he is worried about “young people” amped up on violence, heading into bars to start trouble after fight events.
The city had previously sanctioned MMA events before deregulating the sport in 2007, with some of the larger events haveing been pay-per-view specials seen across the world. According to the Vancouver Athletic Commission, since MMA was taken off the table, local combat sports events have all but dropped stopped, and the fees associated with those events has dried up as a result.
A VAC report to be tabled at the meeting Thursday says, “There were few shows held in the city of Vancouver between November 2008 and November 2009,” with the exception being a World Wrestling Entertainment event at the PNE that drew 4,000 people in February 2009. Aside from that, the commission oversaw regular local pro wrestling events at the Russian Community Centre that draw a few hundred people per event.
That lack of activity is not for lack of trying, however, with the VAC stating they have “received a number of promoter inquiries regarding the prospect of holding Mixed
Martial Arts events in Vancouver.The VAC awaits Vancouver City Council’s decision on the ability for the VAC to sanction these events.”
The report also mentions unsanctioned events taking place due to the lack of a proper regulatory framework.
The UFC has tentatively booked GM Place for a June 2010 pay-per-view event. UFC VP of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner told The Sun recently that as soon as Vancouver gives the go-ahead, it would take around “20 or 30 days for us to confirm a date for next year.”
Officials in Montreal have pegged the economic impact of a UFC event at around $20m in increased tourism, production, commission fees and associated revenue.
MMA is big business on Vancouver Island and in the interior, with regions such as Prince George, Vernon, Pemberton, Nanaimo and Victoria having hosted local sold out events. Montreal has hosted two UFC events without incident and will likely see a third in early 2010, while Calgary and Edmonton host regional promotion events on a weekly basis.
Medical studies out of the UK have indicated the sport is far safer than many other pro sports, such as football and boxing, due to the lack of concentrated, prolonged attacks on the head.
Critics complain, however, that the spectacle of two individuals fighting in a cage is barbaric and likely to inspire associated violence outside the arena.
Actual evidence of spectator violence is hard to come by however, and 41 states in the US have now regulated the sport, with Massachusetts, Maine and Indiana joining the throng in November.
UFC President Dana White has had Vancouver on his lips a lot over the last six months, telling fans, “We’re coming to Vancouver. We’re getting it done.”
If Vancouver gives the go-ahead for the sport, the UFC plans to then focus on Ontario, where the organization has tentative plans for an event at the Rogers Centre, where a world record crowd would be expected.