In spite of Vancouver City Council's approval of a two-year trial period for MMA, I found out that there are still no regulations in place to promote the sport professionally within the city. The problem lies in the fact that the city is still expressing grave concerns about legal and financial liability, while movement toward a resolution of those concerns appears to have been extremely sluggish.
At one point, newly-elected VAC chair Mirko Mladenovic (a supporter of properly-sanctioned MMA) asked Mr. Hammel when the legal issues might be resolved, to which Mr. Hammel replied, "About two months" in a manner that indicated to me that it may be even longer. Paradoxically, Mr. Hammel also said that an MMA event could technically be held at Vancouver's PNE Fairgrounds, which have previously hosted major events by bodogFIGHT and Elite Fighting Championships, but added that such an event would be subject to the approval of the PNE board. That's an apparent dead-end, since that board has already issued flat refusals to Edmontion's Maximum Fighting Championships and eastern Canada's Elite-1, stating that they have no desire to host any MMA event on their premises. Hearing all that I damn near stopped breathing, since it would mean that unless something changes, and quickly, then our UFC event is already dead in the water.
I don't want to run around like Chicken Little screaming about the sky falling just yet, so for now I'm just going to hope that things start moving behind the scenes to expedite a return of pro MMA to a city that Olympic debt has left in dire need of new revenue sources. Otherwise, we may just lose the biggest MMA happening in Vancouver history, along with the badly-needed cash injection that goes with it.
]]>Although he never stopped looking like a little kid, Dave was a tough little sumbitch, having trained in boxing for most of his life. In fact, his hands were so broken and gnarled from cracking the skulls of would-be-bullies that I was surprised he could still play his guitar!
Recently I heard that Dave had been diagnosed with brain cancer, and some of the entries following the YouTube clip linked below indicate that he didn't make it. If anyone out there has any word on where Dave is buried, please click on the "Contact Me" link on this page and gimme a heads-up.
In the meantime, here's a sampling of some of Dave's cleaner, "TV Approved" material from about 13 years ago during his appearance on "Comedy at Club 54". I'd like to find more, because while this is good, his filthy stuff was his funniest.
]]>I just put the phone down after hammering out the final details with promoter Curtis Lee, and I'm as excited as hell to announce that Shonie is coming back once again to fight on a grand-scale outdoor show in Victoria on June 4! More details as they become available, so watch this site and get ready to grab your tickets to see one of the absolute greatest entertainers in the young history of our sport!
]]>Today, Chael's undoubtedly feeling a little fragile, but I'm sure that the $60 000 "Fight of the Night" bonus cheque he pocketed and the UFC middleweight title shot that he earned will go a LONG way toward easing the pain.
Before the fight took place I was asked about it more than once, and I had to admit that even I thought Marquardt was going to win. I will say right now that never before in my entire life have I been happier to be proven wrong.
You da man, Chael!
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