Quote of the Day: Fightlinker on Why MMA Is Big in Canada

Did he really suggest that MMA is popular here because of our healthcare.. seriously?

I don’t know if you can really attribute it to any one reason. The majority of the Canadian culture is a lot more open to new things. The old adage of ethnic diversity vs melting pot, Canada is a lot more open to a lot of things. Couple that with the fact that we’re very tied to American media (whether we like it or not) and being a lot more open means new things like MMA has a better chance of taking off.

He’s likely right about broadband too, I’ve noticed that considering our population is a tiny fraction of the USA you’ll almost always find Canadians willing to discuss topics online due to the proliferation of cheap fast internet. The grassroots word of mouth and transmittal of knowledge and pop culture here in Canada seems to move a lot faster than the USA considering the population difference.

And lastly violence, less on weapons (due to our very restrictive weapon laws) but more on the fact that Canadians have grown up with a lot of it. Hockey is ingrained in Canadian psyche, with that comes fighting. Things have changed now (since I’m a lot older than a lot of people who follow MMA) but when I was younger it was rare NOT to see fights at the bars. In fact in my college years it was not uncommon for us to go out and blow off steam to go out and pick fights. Perhaps that’s just my anecdotal evidence but hand to hand fighting has been pretty commonplace.

Putting all those things that into a sport that is tied to popular media, has a large following online and in a culture that embraces new things and isn’t afraid of combat is why I think it’s so popular here in Canada.

GSP

Also the expansion of the internet, which was really good in city centers. Everyone in America was still on dialup when DSL and cable were pretty much old hat in Canada. The internet was a necessity to be a fan a few years back, so it’d make sense that better internet access meant more fans

I’d say this was quite important for sure. Back in 2000 (I think) the ruling Liberal Party actually had it in their platform as an election issue to push for widespread high-speed broadband internet access for all Canadians, including those in the morst rural parts of Canada. The issue got dropped, but resurfaced a few years later. I can’t remember if official government initiatives were actually put in place, but in general, the message seems to have gotten across (at least in major populated areas). Dial-up Internet usage was free when I was at University back in the late 1990’s, and it wasn’t long before high speed came along. Again, free to the students, etc.

In general, Canada tends to adopt new technologies quicker than most places. For example, debit cards and Interac machines. I believe Canada was one of the first testing grounds for them. At least on any national scale, very early on. This is why no matter where you go in Canada, you can use your debit card basically.

I honestly do think that fighting is just in our blood. Whether it’s boxing, wrestling, or even in war. Back in WWI, the word Storm Trooper was used by the Kaiser to describe Canadian soldiers because they were known for getting things done that the British couldn’t. Even now, despite our crappy, underfunded military, the Canadian soldiers themselves (particularly the snipers) are considered some of the best trained fighters there are.

So yeah: in the blood.

Montreal Canadiens were in the playoffs ;-)