Mixed martial arts are coming to Saskatchewan, as the provincial government has introduced legislation to create an athletics commission that would sanction UFC-style events along with boxing and other combat sports.
One person who watched that news with great interest was Mitch "Danger Zone" Clarke, a 27-year-old Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter originally from Saskatoon who has been training in Edmonton for the past five years.
Clarke holds a professional record of 10-2 and has appeared in three UFC events over the past two years. He won his first UFC fight in June at an event in Winnipeg. The fight was close enough to home that dozens of friends and family from Saskatchewan came to cheer him on.
"There was definitely a Mitch Clarke cheering section there," Clarke said by phone from Edmonton.
Still, fighting in Winnipeg isn't the same as fighting at home, where Clarke says there is a growing MMA culture that would only thrive with more live events.
"I always tell people, you can't really appreciate the UFC until you watch it live," Clarke said.
Even though there's a chance the UFC could be coming to Saskatchewan in the near future, Clarke is hesitant to change a comfortable training schedule.
"I'm a creature of habit," he said. "The facilities here [in Edmonton] are great, but I would like to get back to Saskatchewan at some point."
One of the people responsible for bringing this issue to the legislature is none other than Humboldt mayor Malcolm Eaton.
As chair of the city mayors' caucus for the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA), Eaton has been advocating for the creation of such a commission.
"We think the province needs to do this so there's a consistent approach across Saskatchewan," Eaton said. "Otherwise 15 cities would have to do their own thing in terms of regulations and everything else."
The proposed commission would consist of five members: a commissioner, three experts making up an advisory committee, and an adjudicator. According to Eaton, centralizing the expertise and regulations in one place should make for a more efficient system.
"This commission is a positive step for our growing province," Kevin Doherty, minister of Parks, Culture and Sport said in a release. "It will help ensure athletes' safety. Plus, the commission will give Saskatchewan communities the ability to hold legal professional MMA events."
Eaton said there are no plans to hold any of these events in Humboldt, but the pending legislation will give the city the option to do so.
"This puts us in a position to be ready in case someone wants to rent a facility in Humboldt to put on one of these events," Eaton said.
The Saskatchewan Martial Arts Association will sanction combat sports at the amateur level.
Mixed martial arts events are currently sanctioned at the provincial level in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. Municipalities in Alberta, New Brunswick and the Northwest Territories also sanction MMA events.
At the federal level, the House of Commons passed a bill in June legalizing MMA events in Canada, clarifying an existing law that only allowed for boxing.
The UFC has held 14 shows in Canada to date, with stops in Calgary, Montreal, Toronto Winnipeg and Vancouver.
The proposed legislation in Saskatchewan has been tabled for first and second reading and is expected to become law next spring.
