Check in with us regularly to get connected with the individuals and key players that comprise MMA culture here in our great province.
As you are probably all aware by now, on Saturday, August 14, 2010 the Ontario Government under the leadership of Premier Dalton McQuinty reconsidered a decision they had been flip-flopping on whether to allow the sport of MMA to be legalized in Ontario. Our province, as you know, had been one of the few remaining provinces holding out from allowing sanctioned events.
Ontario will adopt the same rules for MMA bouts that are widely used across North America and the sport will be regulated by the Ontario Athletic Commission (which oversees boxing). Money for our cash strapped province was, as we all know, the real reason behind the government's change of heart (one MMA event could generate up to 6 million in economic activity).
According to Marc Ratner, who is the UFC's vice-president of regulatory and government affairs says that Canada is the Mecca of the sport, and that Toronto is one of the MMA cities in the world. And attesting to the sports popularity on our soil, Tom Wright, the UFC's director of Canadian Operations adds that the UFC's 2009 video game was 2nd only to hockey in Canadian sales.
The UFC, as well as a host of other promoters, entrepreneurs and organizations have been waiting in the wings ready to proceed with holding shows as soon as the official sanctioning takes
effect in the New Year.
OCTOGON ONTARIO will feature (through profiles and interviews) novice, up-and-coming and established fighters as well as focusing on specific clubs, trainers, coaches and other people, places and things vital to the sport.
Our goal is to inspire and inform, and get you deeply connected with your Ontario MMA community. Fight ON!
