James Brydon

Follow fight-by-fight results for MMA events with Twitter. James will do live updates during all UFC events as well as many other promotions, including Canadian ones.

Two weekends ago, the Ontario government announced it was going to legalize and regulate mixed martial arts and I could already here Bruce Buffer's voice making the announcement:

"It's time!"

But it wasn't "three rounds in the UFC heavyweight division" I was imagining him promoting in front of 30,000 plus fans at the Rogers Centre.

No, it was the three-ring circus that always comes with an announcement that has a political context. And you could say that the three rings in this case are the main political parties in the province: the Liberals, the Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats.

Opposition leader Tim Hudak fired the first shot at Premier Dalton McGuinty, who had previously said that legalizing MMA was "not a priority" for his cabinet.

"Perhaps the UFC will declare (McGuinty) the heavyweight champion of flip-flopping," he said.

That certainly makes a good sound bite as Ontario approaches an election year, but McGuinty never actually said he was against MMA.

Next, the NDP jumped in, claiming the new stance suggests the Liberals don't know what they stand for.

But since when does deciding to sanction a sport that is popular with a large portion of the voting public, will bring in loads of revenue to a tremendously cash-strapped province and can be argued to be as safe as any other sport constitute standing for anything but smart governing?

Sure, money was a major motivation here, arguably the biggest. After all, the McGuinty government has already announced that it's going to offer online gambling by 2012, a move precipitated by the fact that it's running nearly a $20-million deficit, and running out of revenue options. If it's going to do that, how can it let the MMA bandwagon go by without jumping aboard?

That's how something that is "not a priority" is suddenly put into motion.

Even still, the NDP continues to seek ways to put a negative spin on the situation, claiming the move may have come as a result of some illegal lobbying. While this may be something worth investigating, I'd say that is something that's truly not a priority but rather an opportunity to paint the Liberals with a bad brush. And when does a political party pass up on those?

The NDPs aren't the only ones getting their names in print on the issue. A couple of Ottawa mayoral candidates have chimed in, saying MMA is not welcome in the nation's capital. And the quotes are some doozies:

"It's not clear to me that you're projecting good social values by watching someone receiving a vicious beating," said Councillor Alex Cullen. "Some claim it to be sport, but I think it's as barbaric as the Romans having gladiators fight in the dust."

Someone should tell Mr. Cullen that in MMA, the "gladiators" voluntarily enter the cage. And there are referees and doctors right there to make sure things don't get too "vicious."

Councillor Clive Doucet also demonstrated his disdain for solid facts or getting an accurate picture of public perception:

"This makes boxing look like a walk in the park. … There's clearly a market niche for this kind of entertainment, but I think most people find it far too brutal for their taste. It is not an event I would look forward to at all."

When you're looking to gain office and supposedly meant to represent the views of your constituents, using the terms "I think most people" and "It is not an event I would look forward to" is probably not the best move. You should probably try to find out more confidently what the people do want and be more concerned with them than your own personal tastes.

Not to mention do the research on how "brutal" MMA really is. Showdown Joe did, and here's what he found.

Getting back to the Liberals, the timing and method of the announcement showed some savvy. Or was it sheepishness? Leaking the news through Twitter and then burying the official release on their website -- with no public news conference -- and on a Saturday morning … now what kind of statement does that make?

Conventional wisdom suggests the strongest fan base of the sport is a younger generation, one that would be tapped into the Twitterverse and busting to propagate the news across the blogosphere with the most positive tone. Meanwhile, this article, which furthers the notion of McGuinty not being clear on his identity, suggests it was done to gain play in Sunday tabloids, whose readers are considered to be MMA fans. Smart.

It also avoids, or at least pushes off to another day, any sort of public criticism. That may be a timid approach by McGuinty, but I wouldn't call it "indecisive." You can still be "Premier Dad" and support a sport that -- despite what some pundits say -- promotes sportsmanship, athleticism and honour.

Unfortunately, now we have the news Wednesday that despite all the facts about the actual safety of the sport, the Canadian Medical Association at their annual meeting in Toronto voted in favour of seeking a country-wide ban of MMA.

Said outgoing CMA president Anne Doig: "We are concerned when people engage in activities, the sole purpose of which is to pummel, kick, punch, scratch -- whatever methods they use -- until either somebody is seriously hurt or injured or somebody cries uncle and submits."

Note to the doctor: shouldn't you get the facts on what methods fighters do use before you express your concern about them?

Also quoted in the article was Dr. Atul Kapur of Ottawa, who doesn't believe that banning the sport would force it underground and thus create greater risk to fighters' health and safety.

"If we pass this motion, Brad Pitt isn't going to do a cross-country tour starting a national network of Fight Club."

Another nice reference (and isn't he just tapped into pop culture!?) But does the good doctor have any evidence to back up that assertion? At least one doctor disagrees, and says those in favour of the ban are going by their gut and not any hard numbers.

Seems like another case of "get your name in print first, get the facts later."

The good news for proponents of MMA in Canada is that the country's largest province (in terms of population and market) has officially opened its doors to the sport and everything else is just talk.

But there are some concerns beyond this call for a ban by Canadian doctors. Vancouver Athletic Commissioner Mirko Mladenovic, who presided over the UFC's first trip to the city, was recently fired by the city's council. And shortly after the MMA in Ontario announcement was made by consumer services minister Sophia Aggelonitis, who is a strong proponent of the sport, McGuinty shuffled his cabinet, moving her to a different post. While we've been told her replacement, former environment minister John Gerretsen, will toe the company line and not throw up any hurdles, it still leaves us feeling a little uneasy.

There remains more work to be done before the first time we see fighters square off in a sanctioned MMA event on Ontario soil. But let's hope the process isn't stalled. Because that will only hurt, oh let's see, the home-grown athletes, the local fans and the general public when the revenue dollars continue to go outside the province's borders.