August 16, 2010 - 12:05 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
GSP will likely be the man that will front a UFC card in Toronto that should attract over 60,000 fans to the Rogers Centre.
I find it ironic that the weekend news of the Ontario government’s decision to sanction MMA fighting in the province comes in the same week that the BC Medical Association is pushing the Canadian Medical Association to advocate for a national ban on the sport.
And so while Vancouver was first to lift the ban and hold a UFC Pay Per View, it looks as though Toronto and Ontario are poised to overtake our position within the country for a sport that clearly has huge economic impacts attached to it.
The BCMA resolution is likely to have a ripple effect that needs to be addressed early rather than permeating the consciousness of the decision-making powers at both the provincial and municipal levels.
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July 9, 2010 - 10:36 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
UFC VP of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner is the man who made all of the details run smoothly at Vancouver UFC 115 card, in spite of the amateur nature of the VAC officials he had to deal with.
Sitting in the press conference a few days before UFC 115 took place, I couldn’t help but shake my head at the sight of the humbled and tentative Mirko Mladenovic, the former chairman of the Vancouver Athletic Commission (VAC). Mirko sat their alone, possibly shocked that it was all happening in spite of his interventions, which at times put the whole event in severe jeopardy.
I say former because this is what happened yesterday, coming as no surprise to those of us who closely followed the proceedings of how the UFC finally got to Vancouver.
Comments like this show how clueless this guy really is:
““I’ve been on the board for three terms. I am only into this one four months. What has changed? What has changed is they wanted to kill UFC and I approved it.”
Excuse me? YOU approved it? And THEY wanted to kill UFC?
Wow. Here’s the real story folks.
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June 14, 2010 - 2:35 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
Meatheads that wear this kind of apparel and hate on gays and others is not exclusive to the UFC audience.
Was this incident a hate crime? Well, sounds like a safe bet with some neanderthals who yell homophobic garbage at someone while bashing in their head 50+ times.
But to blame the UFC for this is just nonsense. This could have been a hip hop or metal concert, a Canucks game, or another event. To say that a hate crime is caused by drunken guys inspired by watching a fight is a stretch to say the least.
Just yesterday I was standing on Robson eating at my favourite shawarma place at about 4:30 in the afternoon, when three guys who were also eating there got up, ran towards a BMW convertible stopped at a light (female driver, male passenger), and beat the shit out of the guy, with a dramatic scene that followed. These Ed Hardy wearing, tattoo gangster wannabes are everywhere in Vancouver these days.
I understand that the couple who were assaulted feel this way, and quite frankly, they have every right. But taking a step back from the situation would give a clearer perspective in terms of culpability.
