UFC Eyes Canadian Regulatory Landscape
August 15, 2008
The Zuffa braintrust has stated that once Massachusetts and New York are wrapped up the UFC would turn their legalization forces towards Canada and mvoing towards full regulation there.
The current landscape in the Canadian market is a bit of a patchwork of differing regulations for different provinces. Some provinces like Quebec embrace MMA while Ontario has gone to great lengths to keep MMA at bay. Then you have the confusing situation that is the Vancouver/British Columbia mess. MMA is legal in certain parts of BC but the city of Vancouver itself has taken to banning the sport within the city limits:
But don’t expect the UFC or any other major promotion to host an MMA show in Vancouver anytime soon.
While major cities throughout North America and Europe are literally begging the UFC to come to town, Vancouver has clearly laid out the “not welcome” mat.
Vancouver city council voted last year against sanctioning MMA events, citing insurance and liability issues.
The UFC certainly looks to have their work cut out for them once they make the push into Canada. I’m not sure about the feasibility of it, but they may want to try and lobby on a national level in Ottawa, getting a seal of approval that can then be taken to the individual provinces to use as persuasion. The UFC seemed to take an opposite tack here in the States, completing regulation in most of the U.S. and then hiring a Washington DC lobbying firm to work congress.
