Potential Issues for UFC 97 in Montreal?

It appears that some unforeseen, last-minute issues may hinder the UFC’s return trip to Montreal, Quebec, Canada for UFC 97 this April.

Canada’s Sportsnet.ca was the first to initially report the potential issues with the Quebec Boxing Commission. Under current regulations, the Quebec Boxing Commission has rules in place that prevent the use of elbow and knee strikes to an opponent in both the standing and ground positions.

Regulations also reportedly require a smaller dimension for the Octagon, and a standing count from the referee after a fighter is knocked down is also a requirement.

These current regulations are instituted for boxing, kickboxing and “mixed boxing” competitions, which would included events using wrestling and jujitsu techniques.

Marc Ratner, VP of Regulatory Affairs for the UFC, has been in contact with the QBC and believes an arrangement will still be worked out, but judging by the QBC’s comments, I’m not so sure.

For eight years, beginning in 2000, Stephan Patry successfully held 44 MMA events under the Universal Combat Challenge and TKO banners in the province of Quebec under the standard, unified North American MMA rules without any incident.

The UFC also held UFC 83 in Montreal under the unified rules last year without any problems from the QBC.

It appears that this current desire to have a strict adherence to the rules stems from a near-riot incident that occurred last week at a Strikebox-Titans Fighting event in Montreal.

The event, also run by former TKO president Stephan Patry, supposedly featured a “gentleman’s agreement” between contestants that all fights would remain standing. This agreement held true until the night's final fight when James Thompson took down Canadian hockey player Steve Bosse and began to use ground-and-pound.

The crowd immediately erupted and began throwing chairs and other objects which forced the QBC to immediately end the event and escort the fighters to safety.

The UFC does have significant pull with many athletic commissions in the United States, but it remains to be seen if they have the same kind of influence with commissions in other countries.

One strong thing the UFC does have going for it is a successful track record under the current ownership, and a successfully run UFC 83 event in Quebec in 2008.

Also, revenue will most likely play a large part in the decision, as the UFC has already sold over 13,500 tickets for the event which is scheduled to be held at the Bell Centre.

At the moment, UFC 97 remains in limbo.