SASKATOON – The Government of Saskatchewan has approved a provincial athletics commission and prepares to ring the bell for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) events.
Its news fight fans from across the province have been waiting to hear for a very long time.
Saskatchewan is now one step closer to hosting its own MMA events like Winnipeg’s UFC 161 in June.
The Saskatchewan government is working on establishing a provincial athletics commission that will have the authority to sanction professional combative sports.
It will also be up to the commission to ensure that the events are conducted with a heavy emphasis on safety for the athletes involved.
Safety is the primary concern for Saskatchewan’s Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Kevin Doherty.
“When we host these kinds of events in the province eventually, that those that will be participating have those medical protocols in place, and that there are certified medical staff in place to examine these participants,” said Doherty.
But this change came too late for some Saskatchewan-born fighters.
The fact that fighting professionally wasn’t allowed in his home province, is exactly why Saskatoon’s Mitch Clarke decided to move to Edmonton to pursue his dream of someday fighting in the UFC.
“We have some very talented fighters in Saskatchewan, in both Regina and Saskatoon especially and they don’t get a chance to really cut their teeth, because they aren’t able to get that experience in the ring,” said Clarke.
Local fighters will still have to wait a while before any sanctioned fights take place in Saskatchewan.
The provincial athletics commission is expected to be up and running by September 2014.
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