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Canwest News Service
Ultimate Fighting Championship stars Denis Kang and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson were greeted with raucous cheers from the crowd at Vancouver's first city-approved mixed martial arts event since 2007 Friday, as Honour Combat Championships debuted at the Edgewater Casino.
One of a pair of events scheduled to take place within city limits on the same night (the other launched at Fraserview Hall before a sell-out crowd of 1, 000), the HCC fight card featured eight amateur fights featuring some of the best of the city's local non-pro fighting talent.
In attendance were Vancouver city councillors Kerry Jang and Heather Deal who decided they should come out, in Jang's words, "to see if the fighters were in any danger."
Some were, but with referees stopping fights a tad earlier than standard and the promoters utilizing the strictest of the Vancouver Athletic Commission's former rules and standards to run the show, safety seemed to be paramount.
Rampage Jackson laughed with the fans – only between bouts, as security had been asked to keep folks from bothering him while the fights were taking place – and Kang repeated one line often to anyone who asked his thoughts – "I just want to be able to fight here in Vancouver, in the UFC, in front of my family and friends. It's time."
Kang will be in town for a while – he's holding a seminar at Revolution's new 11,000 square foot gym in Langley Saturday.
With the crowd warned that this was a test event and that their behaviour could make or break MMA in the city, ticket-holders seemed to be well- controlled, if fairly liquored up. The action in the ring was loudly cheered and, judging by the response to nice technique on the floor, the fans were as knowledgeable as any you'd meet in Vegas.
The opening fight of the night demonstrated one of the big misconceptions about mixed martial arts, when local fighter Andrew Small tied up Cody Teed and the pair fell through the ring ropes."That's why we need a cage!" yelled a fan at ringside.
Eventually, Small would take side control, land a series of undefended punches, shift to full mount and and end it with a nice armbar.
A bloodied Teed tells the crowd, "I just wanted to come in here and fight. Our coaches are so nice to us."
At the time of writing, Jang and Deal had seen nothing to dissuade them from approving regulated MMA. Of course, the night was young, but if Vancouver can sell out two mixed martial arts events on the same night, and attract some of the biggest names in the sport to ringside, it's no stretch to think a UFC pay- per-view at GM Place in June 2010 would be a monumental event.
Vancouver council will discuss the issue of MMA in December, and UFC VP of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner will be in attendance. He expects a UFC event in Vancouver to be confirmed "within 20 to 30 days" of council okaying regulation.
candice.mackinnon@gmail.com
Special to The Sun
