Vancouver city council allows mixed martial arts events for two-year trial

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      Vancouver council has voted 6-3 to allow the holding of professional mixed martial arts events in the city after a two-year ban.

      Today (December 17), council approved a recommendation from city staff that it permit the Vancouver Athletic Commission to sanction MMA events for two years on a “pilot basis”.

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

      Council's decision paves the way for the Ultimate Fighting Championship to hold a pay-per-view MMA event at GM Place in June 2010.

      “I’m ready to now support this sport,” Vision Vancouver councillor Heather Deal said during the council meeting. “I think it’s time.”

      Vision councillor Kerry Jang said he was dead-set against MMA two years ago but he now understands the sport has “evolved”. He said he feels comfortable watching MMA bouts on TV with his kids.

      Non-Partisan Association councillor Suzanne Anton, Deal, and Jang attended an Honour Combat Championships amateur MMA event at the Edgewater Casino on November 27.

      Coalition of Progressive Electors councillor Ellen Woodsworth and Vision councillors Andrea Reimer and Raymond Louie voted against the two-year trial.

      Reimer said she is uncomfortable with the marketing of MMA events, which she noted is based on violence.

      Woodsworth noted that the Ontario government interprets the Criminal Code as outlawing mixed martial arts. She questioned why the city would move forward without a clear sense of the legality of pro MMA fights. Woodsworth said she continues to believe, as council has expressed in the past, that “we need provincial regulation” of MMA.

      Woodsworth also said that it was “appalling” that the report containing staff’s recommendations wasn’t available to the public until late afternoon on December 16. But council voted against her motion to defer its decision on the matter until January.

      A dozen speakers signed up to discuss the issue at the council meeting.

      Lawrence Epstein, a lawyer for Zuffa, which owns the Ultimate Fighting Championship, told council that the prominent MMA promotion has “never really had any serious injuries” or deaths at its events. He said each UFC event typically carries $12 million in insurance, and his Las Vegas-based company is “constantly looking” at rule changes to make the sport safer.

      “Regulation is a key part of the success of our company,” Epstein said. “We will not go to any jurisdiction that does not properly regulate this sport.”

      Minister of Canadian Heritage James Moore, the Conservative MP for Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam, told council that the federal government is “entirely supportive” of Vancouver sanctioning MMA events. Moore, who said he attended a UFC event in Montreal, called the UFC a “great company”.

      “I think that hosting the UFC in 2010 is a really great opportunity for us that we should grab with both hands,” he said.

      Moore noted the federal government has “no concerns” about the legality of MMA events.

      “This is about embracing a sport that our constituents—yours and mine—have already embraced,” Moore said.

      Harvey Jones, a vice president for Canucks Sports & Entertainment, which owns GM Place, said his company would make about as much of a profit from a UFC event as a large concert.

      “There’s huge economic benefits for everybody—not just us, not just UFC,” Jones told council.

      Joel Posluns, who runs an aikido dojo in North Vancouver, told council that allowing MMA events in Vancouver would damage the city’s positive brand. He asked council to declare the city a “UFC-free zone”.

      “The fact that UFC hasn’t had a major incident yet—it’s only a matter of time,” Posluns said.

      Iman Rahmim, an MMA instructor at Versus Mixed Martial Arts and Fitness in Vancouver, called the city a “hotbed for MMA talent”. But he told council the city hasn’t been getting anything out of this because it’s been “exporting” its fighters.

      Rahmim called on the province to regulate MMA to “ensure the safety of the athletes and the growth of this sport”.

      Council’s decision also means the Vancouver Athletic Commission’s seat tax will be increased from $0.10 per seat to $1 per seat for each contest or exhibition to cover increased administrative costs.

      Promoters, organizers, and venue owners will be required to sign an indemnity agreement to protect the city and the commission.

      Mayor Gregor Robertson will write to the provincial and federal governments to request “urgent clarification” of the laws surrounding the regulation of MMA.

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

      The staff report prepared for today’s council meeting 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, already regulate MMA events. The sport is banned 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.”

      According to the staff report, 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.

      At one point during the meeting, Anton joked that council should have a “no timidity” rule like the UFC.

      You can follow Stephen Hui on Twitter at twitter.com/stephenhui.

      Comments

      8 Comments

      Mark at 4ozmma.webs.com

      Dec 17, 2009 at 1:41pm

      YES. It is about time. As a fan, I think MMA has come a long way since the old "Tough guy" competitions with no real regulations. As for street violence, I think we have a bigger problem with gangs and drugs than MMA wannabes starting fights.

      Gina~G

      Dec 17, 2009 at 3:22pm

      MMAAAAAAAAAAA !!!
      Great entertainment !!
      xo

      honky tonky09

      Dec 17, 2009 at 3:30pm

      Human cockfighting....that's why I love Vancouver.

      Stephen Hui

      Dec 17, 2009 at 5:22pm

      The City of Vancouver issued the following press release this evening (December 17):

      City of Vancouver Information Bulletin
      December 17, 2009

      City approves MMA sanctioning on a two-year pilot

      Vancouver City Council today voted to authorize the sanctioning of professional Mixed Martial Arts events by the Vancouver Athletic Commission on a two-year pilot basis. Professional MMA events have been banned in Vancouver since September, 2007.

      To minimize the risks of any losses, expenses or claims against the City or the Commission, an indemnity and financial security will be required to be provided by MMA event organizers.

      The City recognizes that Mixed Martial Arts has become one of the fastest growing spectator sports and with its recent rise in popularity and the implementation of additional rules and regulations to protect the athletes, more jurisdictions are now considering sanctioning MMA events.

      In making its recommendations to Council, City staff examined a wide variety of issues, including liability, measures to mitigate risks, injuries rates, security, crowd control, policing, economic benefits as well as the experiences of other jurisdictions that sanction MMA. To mitigate risk of injury to fighters and crowd control issues, staff are also recommending changes be made to the Commission’s regulations with respect to combat sports.

      To address the concern of the lack of a regulatory oversight for amateur MMA events, the City will work with Sport BC and other governing bodies to establish an appropriate governance methodology for amateur MMA and other types of combat sports.

      The Vancouver Athletic Commission is required to report back to Council in 2012 on the experience of holding MMA events in the city.

      fan22

      Dec 18, 2009 at 11:12am

      Anyone who calls this human cockfighting is ignorant. And what does it have to do with Vancouver? There are events in the Interior, Vancouver Island, etc, etc....Montreal, LA, Las Vegas, throughout the UK,.....Japan...

      This is good news for a lot of people in and around Vancouver that are both fans of the sport and participate/train in any of its facets.

      Nice

      Dec 18, 2009 at 11:49am

      It should have never been banned in the first place.

      Hopefully this "protect them from themselves" attitude the city has had for years starts going away.

      james green

      Dec 19, 2009 at 9:21am

      Do none of you folks have children? This city has a great deal of violence with gangs, attacks, assaults and more. Our children, to grow up in a peaceful manner do not need parents who condone men kicking each other in the face, beating each other to a pulp, as a means of entertainment. The only reason the council and mayor approved this gladiator, bloody spectacle is to pay back the gaming crowd who made donations to Vision Vancouver's election campaign.
      Please rememer that violence breeds violence.

      Difference of Opinion

      Dec 20, 2009 at 11:26am

      Anything for money!