Comments on: Report: UFC 97 in Dire Straits

By: dilwann

dilwann — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:54:51 +0000

Give the fighters some ice skates and they can fight any way they want. Maybe if they made this a MMA/curling event everything would be ok ehh.

By: Lord Faust

Lord Faust — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:12:11 +0000

As a Canadian, I’d almost prefer it if the UFC just said “fine, we’ll see you in court, since you basically strung us along while we paid for a venue and advertising”. Then moved the show and never came back.

As much as I’d love to hop across the pond (I’m in Ottawa) to see this event, I would whole-heartedly support the UFC if they just took their ball and went home. As stupid as this may sound, the UFC is doing the province of Quebec a huge favour by running a show there — the influx of tourism and money into the local economy is a big deal, especially in current economic times.

Considering that the athletic commission is a public body; meant to represent the interests of the people, and they won’t even pick up the phone when journalists seek answers, I see no point in dealing with them. Fine, you want to go back on 10 years worth of precedent; you want to piss away millions of dollars in revenue for the province, go ahead.

If I was Dana White, I’d sue the pants off them, and send the Quebec Premier a nice presentation showing how much money the idiotic athletic commission just cost them over the next few years.

By: king mah mah

king mah mah — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 17:51:49 +0000

Reminds me of the South Park movie. Blame Canadaaaaaaaa blame Canadaaaaaa!! Bwahahahahaaaaaa!!

By: Bryan Levick

Bryan Levick — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 17:25:05 +0000

What’s up Wardog? I can not believe they would even try to salvage this card in Canada. Why would the UFC have to beg someplace to hold their event when they have so many cities dying to showcase the world’s greatest MMA organization. This is pathetic. Atlantic City, Foxwoods, Philly all hotbeds for mixed martial arts.

By: smoothtone

smoothtone — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:10:38 +0000

Bring it to New Orleans! Sam text Dana and tell him 97′s card could still sell out this late in New Orleans on the same date. They already expressed interest in Louisiana for the summertime so this is a win-win siutation.

By: wardog

wardog — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:45:49 +0000

Terrible T I thought the same thing! It seems that the Quebec government is not concerned with hosting an event that does not feature GSP. All the other excuses are a joke! The UFC should move the event to New Jersey (haha Brian knows my opinions) and watch it sell out in hours! I mean they sold out UFC 78 there and the main event was Bisping vs. Evans!

By: TerribleT

TerribleT — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 07:01:57 +0000

Oh so now that GSP is not on the card they are going to enforce the “NO ELBOWS NO KICKS TO THE HEAD RULE” huh????? Fuck’em!!!!! It’s their loss!!!!!! The UFC has many other places just begging them to come!!!!!!! I just feel sorry for the Canadian fans that are going to miss out.They’re the ones that should be really pissed off.

By: JOe K.

JOe K. — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:31:25 +0000

LAME

By: ctownhood

ctownhood — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:54:18 +0000

“According to the report, the commission was unaware of that event until a few days ago.”

In a related event, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was just informed that Super Bowl 43 had been played in Tampa, and that the Pittsburgh Steelers won.

So what do they commission exactly? If they were “unaware” of the largest MMA event ever in their country, they cannot be very relevant.

By: jj

jj — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:51:13 +0000

Flash back to the 90′s MMA witch-hunt. What a farce, MMA’s safety record speaks for itself. The few blemishes are due to poor refereeing, freak accidents, not the rules. Any sport is not without it’s risks.

By: roidsnvaletudo

roidsnvaletudo — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:50:15 +0000

Hahaha This can’t be surprising to anyone. We are talking about Canada here. Looks like UFC is going to have play politics.

By: kidneybeans

kidneybeans — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:18:20 +0000

If Quebec doesn’t want the huge money the UFC will generate I’m sure someone else will. It just seems pretty stupid for this guy to deny his province the revenue over what amounts to red tape. My guess is once the people of Quebec realize what they stand to lose they will put some pressure on this tool and he will give in.

By: Meers311

Meers311 — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:40:50 +0000

MMASwami, what are your thoughts on the actions of the commission? I was just wondering. Granted if the gentleman just joined the organization I understand he needs to catch up on things that have happened with the organization. But shouldn’t he also then put off any decisions like this until he gets a clear picture of what is going on?

By: Angry Mike

Angry Mike — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:24:53 +0000

Move it to another province, and make a big deal about it in the press. Plenty of French Canadians will express their unhappiness with the bureaucrat(s).

By: forthehateofthegame

forthehateofthegame — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:20:31 +0000

If anyone wants to email these jokers, send it to this guy.
racj.plainte@racj.gouv.qc.ca
Although it probably wouldn’t help the cause if you’re just going to spew the usual vitriol that we see on this site.

By: MMASwami

MMASwami — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:06:14 +0000

“How can a regulative body over Combat Sports for Canada be completely unaware of UFC 83? They had no clue the event, featuring their own native son GSP, took place! Rejean Theriault needs to resign immediately.”

First and foremost, Regis des Alcohols, des Courses et des Jeux is not a Canadian entity. They only oversee the province of Quebec.

Secondly, Rejean Theriault just joined the organization when the previous director retired. He didn’t work for them when the UFC held their first event.

By: Brandomania

Brandomania — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:53:35 +0000

How can a regulative body over Combat Sports for Canada be completely unaware of UFC 83? They had no clue the event, featuring their own native son GSP, took place! Rejean Theriault needs to resign immediately.

By: Meers311

Meers311 — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:45:54 +0000

Bryan, i totally agree with you. I live in NY as well and have been following the legalization process here, helped by the fact i work at a tv station that covers it somewhat, and I have to wonder if this will be brought up by the people against it that work in our government. They seem to cling to anything they can that’s anti-mma to begin with.

By: MMASwami

MMASwami — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:32:17 +0000

Hmmm.. that last part should of read Quebec =/ Canada

By: MMASwami

MMASwami — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:27:47 +0000

“Canadian officials will not allow the UFC to hold another event in Canada with the organization’s current policies in effect.”

This is one of the dumbest and most ignorant statements I’ve seen written on this website. It is tantamount to saying that MMA can’t happen in NY state because the American government won’t let it happen. Quebec ? Canada. At least put a little effort into the basics of the story.