Issue 038
June 2008
Canada, as a nation, bases much of its cultural history on sport – the birthplace of basketball, hockey, and the official national sport, lacrosse. Canadians watched in awe as Terry Fox ran his ‘Marathon of Hope’ across the country; we cheered as, in 9.84 seconds, Donovan Bailey crossed the finish line at the 1996 Olympics, setting a new world record for the 100-meter sprint; and we nostalgically reminisce about Paul Henderson’s historic game-winning goal at the 1972 Summit Series of hockey.
Sports history will once again be made in this frosty northern nation as the UFC makes the trek up north to Montréal, Québec, to hold their first ever show on Canadian soil. Tickets for this event went fast – in fact, it’s the fastest sell-out in UFC history. But, what does the future hold for the UFC in Canada?
Fans are hopeful that, due to the incredible ticket sales, the UFC will definitely return to Canada. One thing is for sure though – they’re not coming to Canada’s most populated province, Ontario (home to 1 in 3 Canadians) any time soon.
How can that be said with certainty? Well, it turns out that mixed martial arts (MMA) isn’t exactly legal in Canada! Imagine that! The Criminal Code of Canada actually prohibits the act of ‘prize fighting,’ stating that “Everyone who engages as a principal in a prize fight, advises, encourages or promotes a prize fight, or is present at a prize fight as an aid, second, surgeon, umpire, backer or reporter, is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.” So what do they categorize as a ‘prize fight’? That’s where things start to get a little more complicated. As defined by the Criminal Code of Canada, a ‘prize fight’ is ‘an encounter or fight with fists or hands between two persons who have met for that purpose by previous arrangement made by or for them.”
But wait – if the Criminal Code of Canada applies throughout the country, how is it possible for MMA events, like the much-anticipated UFC 83, to take place legally in some parts of the country, but not others? Interpretation of the law can be a funny thing, and it’s actually up to the athletic commission in each individual Canadian province to decide what they interpret to be a ‘prize fight.’ The majority of Canada’s athletic commissions have categorized MMA as a form of boxing match – allowing it to be legally sanctioned within that province. However, Ontario’s athletic commission has adamantly refused to embrace this definition of MMA.
Promoters, athletes and fans have been working to try to change the minds of those in the Ontario Athletic Commission (OAC), without any luck. They are now trying an alternative avenue of pressuring the OAC to legalise MMA in Ontario, by holding MMA events on the Six Nations Native Reserve about an hour south-west of Toronto.
Sanctioned by the athletic commission formed by the Six Nations Reserve, the Iroquois Mixed Martial Arts Championships has already held two events in the last six months, and is planning their third at the end of April. By hosting these MMA events, the promoters are emphasizing two things; OAC should adopt the same definition of MMA as used by other provinces throughout the country. Also the Six Nations Athletic Commission has the authority to sanction MMA events, essentially jumping through a loop-hole in the wording of the Criminal Code, which states that a fight must be “held with the permission or under the authority of an athletic board or commission”
Unwavering in their belief that MMA does not fall into the same category as boxing, and that the Six Nations Athletic Commission has no authority to sanction such events, the Ontario Athletic Commission is determined to make the Iroquois MMA Championships a thing of the past. In a recent move, a notice was sent out to every provincial athletic commission throughout Canada to suspend any fighter who participates in the Iroquois MMA Championships, for an indefinite period of time. They argue that these fighters are taking part in an illegal, unsanctioned event, and are thus, breaking a federal law.
At least two fighters so far who had participated in this event have been denied permission to fight in the province of Manitoba as a result of the efforts of the Ontario Athletic Commission. It’s just the latest move in a long and drawn-out back-and-forth battle between MMA enthusiasts and the OAC.
Although many steps have been made to legalize MMA, it seems as though MMA advocates have been running in place with a stubborn commission that refuses to budge in their position. So, while the excitement and anticipation continues to build for the first ever UFC in Montréal, the same excitement is far off, at best, for Ontarians.
Criminal Code of Canada, Section 83
“Everyone who engages as a principal in a prize fight, advises, encourages or promotes a prize fight, or is present at a prize fight as an aid, second, surgeon, umpire, backer or reporter, is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.”
Criminal Code of Canada defines ‘prize fight’ as ‘an encounter or fight with fists or hands between two persons who have met for that purpose by previous arrangement made by or for them, but a boxing contest between amateur sportsmen, where the contestants wear boxing gloves of not less than one hundred and forty grams each in mass, or any boxing contest 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.’
...
