The following post is Part 1 of a 3-part series that CivicScene will be offering to readers over the coming days on the future of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in Vancouver.

The issue of MMA has proven to be a surprising hot potato for Vancouver City Council in the past year, and although a final sanctioning vote was expected in October (and now hopefully in November), a city-wide ban still hangs around the neck of North America’s fastest growing professional sport.

Canada's prodigal son and UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is the world's most popular MMA fighter and a huge box office draw.

There are a variety of issues which City Council must regularly confront that are far more complex and significant to Vancouver than the dilemma of whether to lift this ban or not.  From my interest and research on the topic, there are three key factors that Council must consider in their decision-making: 1) Safety 2) Liability and 3) Economic Impact.

These issues should form the criteria of whether MMA is once again suitable for Vancouver, as opposition based on personal preferences regarding combat sports must be put aside.  If the three above-mentioned issues are properly addressed (and as I will detail in a further post, they seem to have passed local scrutiny with flying colours), then Council has no choice but to move forward on a sport that could provide a major economic lift to the city.

Before getting into the each of these factors, however, let’s examine the recent history of MMA’s uphill struggle here in Vancouver.

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