Don’t start lining up for MMA tickets in Ontario just yet

Yes, MMA is being sanctioned in Ontario. That’s a done deal. Just don’t expect to see any fights held in the province until 2011. That’s according to an official statement on the province’s Ministry of Consumer Services website. It takes time to cross all the T’s and dot all the I’s to make an outlaw sport legal. It won’t happen overnight. Then again, a New Year’s UFC card at Rogers Centre could be doable (although rumour has it they’ve already booked the Rogers Centre for March).

Obviously, though, this story is still developing and lots of questions remain to be answered. For example, what changes will be made to the Ontario Athletics Control Act, which governs combat sports in Ontario? Where will the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts fit in? Without them, what’s the point? And where does the Ontario Athletic Commission, and specifically its Darth Vader of a boss, Ken Hayashi, fit into all of this? Hayashi has sworn up an down that he will never allow MMA in the province because it violates Section 83 of the Criminal Code and is therefore illegal. Ontario’s decision to allow MMA has nothing to do with the Criminal Code, which must be amended at the federal level. Has Hayashi been told to shut up and get out of the way of progress?

And how will the sanctioning affect grassroots promotions who will want to start putting on fight cards every weekend of the year? What about the officiating, always a bone of contention in MMA? Is the province equipped to handle the influx of MMA events from an officiating perspective or are we going to be stuck with Cecil Peoples-types with karate or boxing experience but no understanding of the subtleties and intricacies of mixed martial arts?

There’s still a lot of work to be done before we see an MMA event in Ontario. Questions, questions, questions. Stay tuned for the answers.