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This rant is dedicated to all those MMA fans out there in Ontario that routinely pack themselves into a crowded living room and shell out a couple bucks to the host to help cover the cost of the UFC event on pay-per-view, to those fans that watch with envy as Montreal hosts arguably the most successful UFC event to date and to those fans that hear UFC President Dana White make statements like:

"We are going to attack Toronto," he told reporters in Las Vegas. "And we're going to get that done. We want to get a fight done in Ontario bad. And we're going to do a big stadium there too. We're not talking 10, 15, 20,000, we're going to do a big stadium in Toronto."

Don't tease us Dana.

This is the type of event that makes UFC fans in Ontario salivate. I mean if we can't out perform Quebec in hockey, why not host a UFC event in downtown Toronto and do it bigger and better than the most successful UFC event in history. Is there a better way to introduce UFC to Toronto? I think not.

There are a few minor stubling points of course, I mean read everything Dana White has said on the subject, if it were possible to put the next big UFC bout in Toronto, Dana and the UFC would be on that like Hyke and Roberts on a dollar menu cheeseburgerand a bottle of orange drink. There are 2 main points of contention that I have been able to find preventing the UFC from taking over the Ontario market and they are the following:

1) The criminal code, section 83.1 forbids prize fighting in Ontario unless the boxing contest is held with the permission or under the authority of an athletic board or commission or similar body established by or under the authority of the legislature of a province for the control of sport within the province. --- so technically right now MMA in Ontario is illegal (good reason not to have it here I suppose)

2) The second major stumbling block is the government's concern over the saftety of the athletes. It only makes sense that before a sport should be considered mainstream and promoted in the largest of venues that the we ensure it is reasonably safe for all involved.

Fair enough. Don't get me wrong, both of these concerns are legit however both can and should be worked around ASAP. Is there a good reason that MMA should be illegal in Ontario while it is sanctioned nearly everywhere else in Canada and the States?

When it comes to safety, the UFC has grown in leaps and bounds compared to the days of "Ultimate Fighting" in the sport's infancy. The UFC has implemented countless rules and regulation to prevent serious injury to their fighters (and rightly so, not only are these guys finely tuned athletic machines lol they are big time money makers). Obviously the UFC wants to do everything in their power to make sure guys like Couture, Liddell,GSP, Lesnar, all 20 Silvas and other big time UFC stars are able to compete (aka rake in the dough) for as long as possible.

I say we let Dana and his crew bring the show to town. Toronto could use some entertainmemt, what with the dominant performance of the Leafs lately and all the playoff appearances the Jays have had since '93. The UFC is nothing but good for the city, the province and the country. Sure there will be critics, but there are critics of violence in football, lacrosse, and hockey yet all of those sports have a franchise that calls Toronto home. UFC is a relatively safe sport when you consider the number of devastating injuries sustained in other 'mainstream' sports.


Basically, I see no good reason to keep UFC out of Ontario. Unless of course we are against making money, selling merchandise, attracting UFC fans from all over North America to tour our city where they will undoubtedly visit our tourist attractions, eat our food, stay in our hotels etc. Its not like the Ontario economy is too good right now or we have too much money and we are just too busy making money in other ways to schedule a fight here and there.

A successful UFC fight in Toronto may pave the way for other large centres in Canada to receive similar events: Hamilton, Ottawa, Vancouver Edmonton, Calgary to name a few. Loyal UFC fans know Dana White is a marketing genius and will bring nothing but good publicity to whatever city his organization hosts an event in.

If it were up to me... I would be on ticketmaster.ca buying my tickets for UFC 98 at the Rogers Centre.