Issue 048

April 2009

Georges St Pierre, Patrick Cote, David Loiseau, Dennis Kang, Carlos Newton, Sam Stout, Chris Horodecki, Mark Hominick… What do all of these fighters have in common? They’re all Canadian, of course. Some, like Newton and St Pierre, are also legends in the sport of MMA, the latter having more or less attained celebrity status in North America. 

It pains me to say this, but in the minds of the individuals who regulate MMA in Canada’s two biggest provinces, these athletes may as well not exist. Time and time again, the issue of MMA being banned in Ontario and Quebec (yes, it is still murky whether it is even legal to fight under UFC rules in Quebec) has surfaced to the forefront of the MMA world, and time and time again fans are left with explanations as nonsensical as Junie Browning’s antics. 

Incompetence, apathy, and ignorance – these are all qualities that Dana White and Mark Ratner will have to deal with if they hope to put on UFC events regularly in Canada, and that’s just within the bureaucrats offices in Quebec. May God, Allah, Buddha, and Fedor Emelianenko help the UFC if they ever get serious about bringing the world’s fastest growing sport to Toronto. 

The events of late February are a perfect example of power without responsibility, a theme that raises its ugly head all too often these days. Canadians far and wide (myself included) rejoiced when it was announced that UFC 97 would take place in Montreal. The previous UFC event held in La Belle Province was massively successful, and plugged on mainstream media outlets throughout the country. Seemingly overnight, Georges St Pierre became a household name. Even my 56-year-old mother called me in the UK to inquire about this “UEC thing”. 

Unfortunately, it seems our friends in the Quebec Regies des Alcools, des Courses et des Jeux (I’ll refer to them as the Quebec Athletic Commission for simplicity sake) didn’t notice the 18,000 people that gathered for the event. Not only did they have no recollection of any prior MMA events being held in their province, they also weren’t too crazy about allowing standard UFC regulations. No elbow strikes, no knees, and no world-famous Octagon. On top of which, a standing eight count would need to be imposed.

One would assume that they would know a thing or two about the sport of MMA, especially considering they are essentially the governing body. But this simply wasn’t the case. The commission (and their new leader Richard Renaud) made complete fools of themselves, essentially admitting that they had no idea what MMA was all about. Fighting with light gloves? Oh, like in hockey? 

Thankfully, the commission saw the dollar signs and common sense prevailed. As of now UFC 97 will take place in Montreal, under standard UFC rules. But it all just goes to show what sort of people are being given well paid government jobs, while immigrants with PhDs are forced to drive cabs and collect dog turds. Do these people not take our sport seriously? 

The scariest part is that regardless of how embarrassing the Montreal situation was, the whole thing would have played out much worse in Toronto. As seemingly ignorant as the suits in Quebec may be, it simply doesn’t hold a candle to the stupidity and corruption that plagues the Ontario Athletic Commission. 

You see, the Ontario Athletic Commission is essentially run by the Beelzebub of the MMA world, a man who calls himself Ken Hayashi. Ken is affiliated with a group that I refer to as ‘The Karate Mafia’. You know the types – guys who like to be referred to as ‘Master’ in public. They were the first to open big martial arts schools in and around Toronto and they’ve been pulling in the big bucks for years, which means anything that could potentially hurt their McDojo monopoly has got to go. 

In the past, Hayashi has gone to great lengths in order to stop MMA and other legitimate combative sports from setting up shop (he has also made a farce of professional boxing, but that’s a story for another time). He has almost single-handedly eliminated kickboxing competitions, the commission is full of advisers and doctors who share his bias, and he describes MMA as a dangerous blood sport to any government officials who take a passing interest in the affair. Unfortunately, Hayashi has also conveniently found an item of criminal law, which, according to his interpretations, bans MMA.

Section 83 of the Criminal Code states that prize fights are illegal. I can understand the need for such a law when there were no sports commissions, and lumberjacks would engage in 76 rounds of bare-knuckle boxing for a bottle of rye whisky, but I’d like to think that Canada has moved on since then. Unfortunately, Hayashi and his cronies are men who respect only the letter of the law, not the spirit. 

While some claim that progress is being made towards legalizing MMA in Ontario, I fear the only real progress will be made when an unbiased leader steps up and takes charge. With the Karate Mafia in power, I don’t see that happening anytime soon. For now, Canadian UFC events will have to be held in Montreal, where our ignorant friends on the Quebec commission are too busy drinking red wine to care – as long as they get to keep their cushy government jobs of course.