The feeling and vibe in Montreal was electric! Thousands of people from all over the world had come to "la provincia" to check out the UFC's 83 card that featured homeboy Georges St. Pierre attempt to avenge his title-loss to the champion, seasoned veteran Matt "The Terra" Serra.
Thousands of people crowded the streets, bars were packed, lineups to clubs out of this world and just an overall feeling of excitement resonated from everyone around me.
The UFC fighters roamed around the streets like free-range animals in one of those big African zoos taking in the sights, sounds and the people of Montreal. In one instant, my cousin and I got to get real close to England's Michael "the Count" Bisping. His girlfriend was extremely patient while single fans turned to tens, twenties and before we knew it, there were over 50 people surrounding the Count asking for pictures and autographs.
As the day turned into night the buzz became feverpitch red as those with tickets headed toward the Bell Centre while everyone else ducked into any bar, nook and cranny that was playing the event live on Pay-Per-View.
After the event, there were various events throughout the city such as Georges St. Pierre's after-party at a nightclub and Tapout's UFC 83 Afterparty among others. Fans and groupies alike crowded the entrances to most of these clubs as the in-crowd and wannabes got in their respective lines to get into the various joints.
My cousin and I were lucky enough to sneak into the Tapout afterparty and rub elbows with the likes of Forrest Griffin and Heath Hearring. They were real friendly and posed for pictures and signed autographs. These warriors were real down-to-earth, humble people that completely went against their over-the-top personalities displayed inside the octagon.
21,390 fans rammed the Bell Centre to witness St. Pierre their hometown hero dismantle Matt Serra and win back his Welterweight Championship with so much determination, style and gusto that it forever cemented St. Pierre as the representative face of MMA in Montreal and Canada for that matter.
The next morning we made the drive back to Toronto filled with great memories and the needing and the wanting to have the UFC one day come to the ACC or even the SkyDome. (that's the Rogers Center, ace.)
Dana White made a visit to Toronto this week for a public Q and A to discuss anything and everyone MMA and UFC related. Dana is vying for the UFC to come to Toronto but that will meant that the mixed martial arts sport must first be licensed in Toronto for the events to be staged here.
What's holding this from happening is that Ontario is not going to expedite this sanctioning. Dalton McGuinty has said that it's simply not a priority--but at least he's listening.
Toronto could use some influx of cash flowing through the businesses here. An MMA event in Toronto would bring in money to the city and province and help bring in people from other countries that would not visit the city or country otherwise.
In order for MMA to ever get sanctioned here, it would have to be taken seriously by the monkeys in the government buildings. Many of them still believe this is a Bloodsport 3-type event where there is a bloody fight to the death in front of blood-thirsty fans cheering in yelling in the same of violence.
The truth is that MMA is a sport that obviously by name combines many forms of martial arts. These different styles clash in exciting and often breath-taking matches that take place in an eight-sided cage that is also used as an advantage for those that know how. There are various weight classes and strict drug policies in place in order to keep everything clean. Certain areas even issue medical suspensions after a fighter has suffered a severe loss via knockout or technical knockout or in a manner that would pose a hazardous risk to their health should the fighter come back too early from that match.
It is made as safe as possible to keep an even playing field. The rest is up to the fighter himself to train, eat healthy and maintain weight in order to be ready for fight-night.
This is far different than the UFC that debuted back in 1993 that the media still loves to show clips of to explain what the modern-day UFC is like. Everyone in the know knows that this is not the case. The sport has come a long way since the days of low blows and hair-pulling with no weight classes. It is becoming a legit sport more and more as the days go by and will one day be taken just as seriously as boxing was in their golden years.
For now, Torontonians will have to wait and see what happens next in the ongoing saga that will hopefully one day end with MMA in Toronto.
To end this off, I ask this question of Toronto: if our city is as diverse and open minded about different values, cultures and tastes, such as hosing Caribana or the Pride Day Parade, and we already sanction MMA sports boxing and muay Thai, then why can't they see that MMA will do so much more for the city than just satisfy the "blood-thirsty" appetite of the MMA hardcore?
1 comments:
well put sir.
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