Joe Ferraro

Rich Franklin, of Cincinnati, Ohio, hits Chuck Liddell, of Santa Barbara, Calif., during UFC 115 in Vancouver, B.C.

Changes in the world of Mixed Martial Arts are 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 boon for the sport in one of Canada's biggest markets.

On Thursday, it was reported that Vancouver City Council fired Mirko Mladenovic as athletic commissioner and replaced him with Dave Rudberg, described by some as a "long-time city bureaucrat."

This story comes on the heels of another one that was posted in the same publication that stated the two-year trial the city has given MMA may end with only one event being having held - UFC 115: Liddell vs Franklin - which took place June 12th.

As I look deeper into this story, I tend not only to raise my eyebrows, but I shake my head in disgust while extending my sympathy to MMA fans, athletes, coaches, gyms, local businesses as the municipal decision makers just don't get it. It's very unfortunate that this continues to take place, 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.

When I heard Rudberg labeled as "a long-time city bureaucrat," instantly, my heart dropped.

On the surface, this is not good for MMA 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. In other words - there will never be another MMA event in the City of Vancouver.

I sincerely hope this is not the case.

Misc News and Notes

- Last night's episode of "The Showdown" on Toronto Sports Radio, The Fan 590, Tyler (The Intern) and I discussed the aftermath from 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 Gerreth Davis is now reporting that "The Count's" opponent appears to be Yoshiro Akiyama.

- Dream 15 goes down Friday - 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 latest 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 of settling the FOY debate. Hominick got his wish, as he and Garcia will tangle at WEC 51: Aldo vs. Gamburyan on September 8th, 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 announced 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 and Louis Taylor. Also on the Challengers 10 card will be a the first round of the organization's female 135lbs tournament.

- If you plan on illegally 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 UFC settled with over 500 different parties (read that number again) who were streaming the events illegally.

On top of that, they are still hunting for more online prey, who think they can get away with what their doing.