Stephen Hui

Vision Vancouver councillors Kerry Jang and Heather Deal at the Honour Combat Championships event on November 27.

Vancouver city council is expected to approve a staff recommendation to allow professional mixed martial arts events for two years on a "pilot basis".

Vision Vancouver councillor Kerry Jang recently told the Straight by phone that council will give the go-ahead if the city is fully insured against potential lawsuits arising from the full-contact combat sport.

A staff report prepared for council’s city services and budgets committee meeting on Thursday (December 17) seeks to do just that.

It proposes that promoters, organizers, and venue owners be required to sign an indemnity agreement that would protect the city and the Vancouver Athletic Commission.

“The indemnity would protect the City and the Commission for any and all losses, expenses or claims incurred by or made against the City or the Commission,” the report states.

Professional mixed martial arts events have been banned in Vancouver since September 2007.

The report notes MMA is a sport that involves a variety of fighting techniques, including jujitsu, boxing, kick-boxing, and wrestling.

Athletic commissions in the provinces of Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Manitoba, as well as the cities of Calgary, Edmonton, Prince George, and Nanaimo, currently regulate MMA events. The sport is not sanctioned in Ontario.

“Examining the experience of other jurisdictions and studies with respect to MMA, it is evident that there are both risks and benefits to allowing this combat sport in Vancouver,” the report states. “It is a sport that has grown tremendously in popularity in North America, and one that has the potential to bring economic benefits to Vancouver. A number of jurisdictions in Canada have allowed MMA and have experienced few problems with crowd and security issues.”

The report recommends that Mayor Gregor Robertson write to the provincial and federal governments to request “urgent clarification” of the laws supporting the regulation of MMA.

It also proposes that the Vancouver Athletic Commission’s seat tax be increased from $0.10 per seat to $1 per seat for each contest or exhibition to cover increased administrative costs.

The commission would report back to council in two years on its experience with sanctioning MMA.

If council allows pro MMA fights to return to the city, the Ultimate Fighting Championship plans to bring a pay-per-view event to Vancouver in June 2010.

A large MMA event at GM Place would generate about $1.5 million—and perhaps as much as $4.7 million—in “total incremental spending” across Metro Vancouver, the report notes.