By Joe Ferraro
Changes in the world of Mixed Martial Arts are a constant - sometimes they are slow and have minimal impact, while others appear swift and have instant results. The latter may be the case in Vancouver, but only time will tell if the recent change of Athletic Commissioner will be a positive for the sport in one of Canada’s biggest markets.
On Thursday, it was reported that Vancouver City Council terminated Mirko Mladenovic as the Athletic Commissioner, and replaced him with Dave Rudberg, described as a “long time city bureaucrat”. This story comes on the heels of another one that was posted in the same publication stated the two year trial the City as given the sport of MMA, may end with only ONE event being held - UFC 115: Liddell vs Franklin - which took place on June 12th.
As I look deeper into this story, I tend not only raise my eyebrows, but I shake my head in disgust while extending my sympathy to the MMA fans, athletes, coaches, gyms, local business’ and economy, as the municipal decision makers just do not get it. It’s very unfortunate that this continues to take place, but alas, you are reading the thoughts of someone who lives in Ontario, where the sport still has a much longer way to go.
I have yet to speak with Rudberg, and I look forward to getting the chance to do so. What I do know is this - Mirko Mladenovic, the ousted commissioner, was pro-MMA. He was a proponent of the sport, and historically speaking, stood up against many of the politicians who opposed it, as the vast majority of them were against it for fabricated reasons that bordered more on comedy, than on real merit. Mladenovic was a people’s commissioner, a fighter’s commissioner, a fan’s commissioner. With Rudberg being labeled as “a long time city bureaucrat”, instantly, my heart dropped.
On the surface, this is not good for Mixed Martial Arts in Vancouver, but, I will give him the benefit of the doubt. Once I speak with him, I will share what his positioning on MMA is, as well as his vision for the sport in the future. What I have heard thus far from sources is not good - to the point where he was simply put into the position to collect a salary while deflected requests for anything MMA for his tenure. Laymen’s terms - there will never be an MMA event in the City of Vancouver ever again. I sincerely hope this is not the case.
Misc News and Notes
• Last night’s episode of “The Showdown” on Toronto’s Sports Radio, The Fan 590, Tyler “The Intern” and I discussed the aftermath that is UFC 116, Lesnar’s placing on some rankings lists, Fedor vs Strikeforce, title shots for losers, Dream 15 predictions, as well as other MMA headlines and thoughts, including why Tyler believes Chris Leben should come out with some “American Zombie” T-shirts.
• Speaking of Lesnar, his boxing coach Peter Welch believes his pupil has yet to reach his true potential.
• This week’s episode of “MMA Connected” is now online.
• Rumours were floating around the MMA Blogosphere that Michael Bisping was going to face Vitor Belfort in the main event of UFC 120 in London. Not so, as Garreth Davis is now reporting that “The Count’s” opponent appears to be Yoshiro Akiyama.
• Dream 15 goes down tonight - it’s not their deepest card ever, but the main event between lightweight champion Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri is my early Christmas Present. Hopefully I get the gift that I’ve been waiting for, for a very long time.
• Love him or hate him, it’s always a great day when Chael Sonnen goes off on a verbal tirade - here is his newest one, where he takes aim at his next opponent, Anderson Silva’s teammate, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
• After defeating fellow Canadian Yves Jabouin at WEC 49, in a definite Fight of the Year candidate, London, Ontario’s Mark “The Machine” Hominick promptly called out Leonard “Bad Boy” Garcia (who is the front runner for FOY after his incredible battle with “The Korean Zombie”, Chan Sung Jung at WEC 44) in hopes to settle the FOY debate. Hominick got his wish, as he and Garcia will tangle at WEC 51:Aldo vs Gamburyan on September 08th, in Denver, Colorado.
• For those wondering why the UFC has signed former Pride Heavyweight, Mark Hunt, who has lost five straight fights? UFC President Dana White tweeted that the organization “contractually owes him some fights” after they purchased Pride Fighting Championships.
• Strikeforce announces their first event in Arizona will take place at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix on Friday August 13th, and will feature a main event between Joe “Diesel” Riggs vs Louis Taylor. Also on the card Challengers 10 card will be the first round of the organizations female 135 lbs tournament.
• If you plan on watching or streaming live UFC pay per view events, I would recommend you do not. Want to defy my recommendation? Read this, where it states the Ultimate Fighting Championships settled with over 500 different parties (read that number again) who were streaming their events illegally. On top of that, they are still hunting for more online prey, who think they can get away with what their doing.
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