Whatever happened to Canadian MMA? Part II

Canada was hailed at one point by UFC president Dana White as “The Mecca of MMA.” Now the number of shows there has dropped radically. The number of shows like MFC and TKO that fed a stream of talent to the UFC is down to 0. And there are also less UFC events in Canada, particularly top tier ones.

Some fans have blamed the lack of UFC shows for the decline, but in a recently interview, Patrick Cote instead cited the lack of homegrown promotions capable of pushing fighters up to the elite level.

Jeremy Brand for MMASucka surveyed a number of Canadian promoters for their perspective. The consensus was simple, and it is true in the USA as well – the money is regional shows is showcasing big ticket selling local fighters, not in putting on national or international level shows.

Lee Mein (Rumble in the Cage President)

He is right. There isn’t money in promoting, so it’s tough to build guys up and pay them what they are worth till they can make it to the UFC and get underpaid. I have the longest running show in Canada. Have had lots of great fighters come through my show, but the budget to go bigger each time is hard, so I have to stick to a strict budget and do what I can. I will keep doing shows, but wish there was a way to afford to have guys from all over Canada come fight here.

Justin Donally (Fivestar Fight League President)

Here’s the problem, most fans, or even guys who cover the sport don’t realize, Probably 50% (on the low side) of MMA promotions lose money, unless promoting shows in their home towns where they can promote and build homegrown talent that sells tickets.

In the early days of Fivestar Fight League we tested many markets and brought in a lot of big talent. In 2013 we were the most active promotion in Canada and did shows across three provinces, truth be told we lost money on half those shows.

Whether or not they will admit it or not, most of the bigger shows going at that time and still now are losing money on a lot of shows. In 2014 we were forced to tighten things up and stay in the markets closer to home.

So what you’re seeing now are promotions that want to stay in the game for the long haul, settle into markets where they can make money constantly and take a risk on the odd show, much like the old wrestling territory days. That’s why you see the smart guys who are outlasting everyone and staying consistent like the RINC, BFL, Unified, Havoc and ourselves to name a few sticking to one area and promoting the local talent and putting together maybe one or two big fights per card.

Would we like to be doing huge shows every month all over Western Canada and building talent to the UFC, yes! Of course! We love the sport and got into this to build talent, but not at the risk of losing the promotion that builds the talent.

Now maybe the reasons why the tickets aren’t selling is the UFC has flooded the market, or perhaps the sport has peaked, I really don’t know, but I know we are good at what we do and promote hard in every city we visit and we never sell more than 1000-1500 tickets tops.

So I think by promoting smart to last long term makes many of us very serious promotions that continue to do it because we love the sport and although were maybe not building talent at the rate others would like to see or even ourselves sometimes, were still building talent and will continue to for years to come.

Cord Crowthers (Prestige FC President)

Patrick is a close personal friend of mine and of a lot of us here in Saskatchewan. I’ve known Patrick for a long time, he’s a fantastic fighter and a fantastic human being. He makes some valid points and there’s two sides to every coin. The Canadian market has dropped off there is no doubt about it. Is it because there is not enough promotions, it is partially, but then again it’s hard to have the promotions when you��ve got things going against you. Take Ontario for instance — when the commission that was set up in Ontario was set up for one reason, to stop MMA from happening. They’re not there to promote the sport. We have a new commission here in Saskatchewan who is doing an amazing job. They followed the California commission and the British Columbia commission and they helped us all the way along to help build the rules and regulations and they’re doing great. With that happening you’re probably going to see more mom and pop shops opening up in the Western Prairies hopefully. In Canada if it’s not hockey, it doesn’t count. It’s always been the rule, always will be the rules. But we’re trying hard with a company like Prestige, when MFC was going, big companies that want to do right and make it a business, we think we can bring it back and bring it full swing. Are there more fighters than there are promotions, by far. You could have 200 shows doing shows every weekend and still not get everyone fights. Patrick made some points and they’re valid points, but I think companies like Prestige, I think we’re going to our best to change that for sure. There’s some great talent in Canada and every day you’re getting new fighters coming out of every province.

Read entire article…