[Locked In]

UFC stars descend on Edgewater Casino for return of Vancouver MM

By Candice Mackinnon, Vancouver Sun - November 28, 2009


A mock-up of the poster for Honour Combat Championships, which will stage an amateur mixed martial arts event in Vancouver, B.C. on November 27.
Photograph by: Handout, ..

Ultimate Fighting Championship stars Denis Kang and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson were greeted with raucous cheers at Vancouver's first city-approved mixed martial arts event since 2007 Friday, as Honour Combat Championships debuted at the 500-seat Edgewater Casino.

One of a pair of events scheduled to take place within city limits on the night (the other launched at Fraserview Hall before a sell-out crowd of 1,000), the HCC fight card consisted of eight amateur fights featuring some of the best of the city's local 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."

Jang came away impressed at how the event was run and at how much fun he had, telling reporters, "In all it was an interesting experience."

"I noticed that they had enough protective gear on their hands so there wasn't going to be a lot of bodily injury," Jang said after the show. "I was impressed by how quickly if somebody wanted to give up and they tapped-out, that happened very quickly as well."

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 was paramount from the outset. The fighters were aware that they wouldn't be allowed to take considerable punishment without a stoppage and none complained about the officiating.

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Rampage Jackson, complete with the BA Baracus mohawk he had received while acting in the upcoming A-Team feature film, laughed with the fans. With security under strict instructions to keep folks from bothering him while the fights were taking place, Jackson gave each fight his undivided attention.

Elsewhere at ringside, locally-raised UFC star 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 MMA gym in Langley Saturday, yet another sign that the juggernaut that is mixed martial arts is coming to the city whether it has government approval or not.

Thankfully, government approval seems almost a formality.

With the crowd warned that this was a test event and that their behaviour could make or break MMA in the city, ticket-holders were well-controlled, if fairly liquored up. The action in the ring was loudly cheered and, judging by the response to solid technique in the ring, 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 - that the cage is indicative of a Thunderdome-style fight to the death. With the Edgewater fights taking place in a boxing ring, when local fighter Andrew Small tied up Cody Teed, the pair fell through the ring ropes - a situation that repeated itself several times through the evening.

"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 his fight with a nice armbar, leaving a bloodied Teed to tell the crowd, "I just wanted to come in here and fight," to a round of happy cheers.

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, with June 2010 at GM Place having been penciled in as the likely pay-per-view debut.

candice.mackinnon@gmail.com

Special to The Sun

With file by Chris Parry

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Source: Vancouver Sun