Lift The Ban Watch: D'oh! Edition

by Luke Thomas on May 8, 2008 2:12 PM EDT in MMA News

MMA is not legal in Ontario, Canada and that's a shame. A really big missed opportunity shame:

Sources from the Montreal Bell Centre have indicated that over three quarters of the 21,000 fans in attendance for UFC 83 purchased their tickets through the UFC Fight Club. In fact, half of the tickets were sold to individuals with postal codes in the Greater Toronto Area. All of which contributed to the biggest live gate in Canadian combat sports history, $5.1 million.

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Re: Lift The Ban Watch: D'oh! Edition

The head of the Ontario Athletic Commission is a complete fool. He's a heavy-handed (calling the police on the organizers of the Iroquois Fighting Championship), duplicitous bureaucrat with delusions of grandeur. Until he's either gone, or backed into a corner, MMA will remain illegal in what is still an incredible hotbet of MMA interest. It's a shame.

by AJB on May 8, 2008 2:56 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Lift The Ban Watch: D'oh! Edition

MMA in Ontario would cause Ken Hayashi to do work. He doesn't want that.

by ilostmydog on May 8, 2008 3:38 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Lift The Ban Watch: D'oh! Edition

5.1 million? Wicked. However, the trend at least in Canada still continues to be one of ignorance and, in my opinion, at this point just completely stubborn, with certain officials absolutely unable to admit that they are wrong about MMA.

by pud333 on May 8, 2008 3:44 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Lift The Ban Watch: D'oh! Edition

Well, Quebec and Alberta are on-board, and some of BC is as well (those that haven't been scared into line by the Vancouver Athletic Commission). I'm not sure to what extent the issue has even come up in other provinces, as low population density in places like Saskatchewan or Newfoundland renders it kind of a moot point.

You're right about the officials though, which is especially problematic given how out of synch they are with public opinion. When public officials start dictating to the larger public what they should or should not find acceptable, that's a problem.

by AJB on May 8, 2008 3:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Re: Lift The Ban Watch: D'oh! Edition

I disagree. Ontario and the city of Vancouver are really the only large holdouts to MMA remaining in Canada. We've got MMA promotions and sanctioning all over the prairie provinces, Quebec, and in certain places in the Maritimes (Halifax comes to mind as a place with a lot of MMA over there).

by ilostmydog on May 8, 2008 4:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Re: Lift The Ban Watch: D'oh! Edition

Vancouver Athletic Commission is too busy getting their bribes in order for the 2010 olympics, to worry about this "new fangled thing" the kids call MMA.

by DirtyML on May 8, 2008 4:23 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Lift The Ban Watch: D'oh! Edition

I think that it goes beyond bribes. THey really want a certain "image" for when "the world comes to Vancouver! (tm)" I wrote an article about the whole stupid deal a while ago:

http://tkoxtreme.com/2008/01/11/keeping-up-appearances/

by AJB on May 8, 2008 4:41 PM EDT up reply actions