Music: {allcanada} Commissioner could bring UFC back to B.C.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

{allcanada} Commissioner could bring UFC back to B.C.

The British Columbia government has proposed to establish a provincial athletic commissioner that would make it easier for the Ultimate Fighting Championship to return to the province.

On Monday, B.C.'s government introduced legislation that would look to create a Provincial Athletic Commissioner position that would oversee all combat sports in the province.

"The benefit of having a provincial athletic commissioner would be that every professional contest would be subject to the same rules and regulations, whether it was being held in Vancouver, Nanaimo or (anywhere in the province)," said Minister of Community, Sport, and Cultural Development Ida Chong during her introduction of the bill.

"Since sports such as kick-boxing and mixed martial arts are very popular and are taking place without a consistent regulatory framework, it makes sense to be proactive about creating this position to increase the safety of athletes and officials, as well as to provide certainty for communities and the industry."

Longtime advocate for combat sports in the province, Dave Teixeira, told the Vancouver Sun: "The biggest change we will see is the fact that UFC will hopefully come back to British Columbia because they don't have to deal with city hall in Vancouver."

The UFC, which is the largest mixed martial arts promotion in the world, has held events in B.C. on two separate occasions -- UFC 115 on June 12, 2010 and UFC 131 on June 11, 2011 -- but did not schedule an event for 2012 because city hall has still not given MMA the green light after a two-year trial period for the sport in the province recently ended.

The UFC's next trip to Western Canada is on July 21 as UFC 149 is set to take place at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.