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News and Notes from Canadian MMA By Kelsey Mowatt Nick Ring Continues March to PRIDE Debut
Ring, by all accounts, looked rather impressive in taking out Malone, moving the fight to the ground and ending it via strikes from full mount at 3:04 of the first round. "It was a pretty quick fight and Malone did not hurt me," Ring explained. "In the fight we got to the clinch fairly early and I took him down a couple times from the clinch, I got a mount position on him the second time we hit the ground and I finished the fight with punches from the mount." Ring was also quick to give Malone due credit and wished him all the best. "I want to take a moment to give respect to Malone and thank him for taking the fight, I have heard some good things about him and I want to wish him luck for his next competition." Fighting in Hawaii has been an interesting experience for Ring, whose last fight in July also took place in the same venue. That night at Super Brawl 41, Ring defeated Hawaiian fighter Kimo Wolfel by rear naked choke, much to the chagrin of the Honolulu crowd who, according to Ring, let the Canadian "mainlander" know he was not the evening's fan favorite. Although this past Saturday's fight saw a rather similar reaction from the Honolulu crowd, Ring understands it's all in good fun. "The crowd definitely has that anti-mainlander edge," Ring said, "but I think they realize the show aspect of the fights because even though they boo you when you're in the ring they aren't really rude to you outside the ring. I think that the Hawaiians are just really into the fights and want to cheer on the hometown Fighters. You just have to accept that they are going to hate you and give them the bad guy that they are looking for." Saturday night also saw Jason "Mayhem" Miller defeat popular Hawaiian fighter Falaniko Vitale by rear naked choke at 2:41 of the second round, and according to Ring, Miller, in assuming the "bad guy" role, is quickly becoming one of ICON sports most popular fighters. "Just look at Mayhem Miller he is a mainlander and a great bad guy, he makes fun of the crowd and just says whatever, he gets the crowd going and they love every minute of it. Mainlander or not I think he is quickly turning into the most popular ICON fighter." As for Ring now, he awaits further word from PRIDE on who and where his next opponent will be on the road to making his PRIDE debut. "I don't know what will be next for me just yet but you will be seeing me again soon," Ring said before leaving some parting advice, "Keep getting buffed everybody and I will see you later." MMA Set to Return to Vernon, B.C. in 2006 MMA instructor and promoter Jason Darrah announced this week that his World Freestyle Championship event will return in early 2006, due to the expected sanctioning of MMA by Vernon city officials in early November. The expected legislation marks the culmination of a lengthy process for Darrah, who finally after several years will see the return of MMA events to the Okanagan Valley. "It has been a long process but it has all paid off. I am very lucky here in Vernon we have an open-minded city council and the former mayor of Vernon is a fight fan himself," Darrah reported. "In order for an athletic commission to be legal there must be three city meetings in order for them to adopt the bylaw. Those meetings have all taken place and the meeting to elect the officials has also taken place." The Okanagan region had held a few MMA events including the World Freestyle Championship, until the Shut Up and Fight event planned for Vernon city two years ago was shut down by city officials pending an overview of all MMA legalities. "I started working on the proposal for an athletic commission the month after Shut Up and Fight was cancelled," said Darrah. "It was a lot of work, but with holding several events in Vernon before everything got shut down, it held a lot of weight as the previous cards had all been run without incident. I had always received excellent media coverage in regards to presenting it as a respectable event." Thus with city council elections recently occurring, Darrah is extremely optimistic that the athletic commission's sanctioning of MMA will finally be put through by the newly elected city council. "The city clerk said the first city meeting with the new council will be the first Monday of November, and at that time the commission will be complete. Overall I would have to say the experience was good -- the city was very open-minded." The news of MMA returning to Vernon is good news for Canadian fight fans, as recently King of the Cage was forced to pull a planned event out of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Apparently Saskatoon's city council could not come to a decision on whether or not they would allow the King of Cage event to occur and with the December 3rd date approaching fast, the event was moved to Calgary, Alberta. As far as the World Freestyle Championships go, Darrah is planning on holding some smaller events in the new year, with plans to put on larger events later in 2006. "I am hoping to have the next Western Freestyle Championships in the early new year," Darrah said. "I will know a more specific time line in a few weeks when the commission is complete. I will be putting the smaller shows on in Boomers Night Club in Vernon and using the Vernon Recreational Centre for the bigger shows." The event will showcase MMA rules similar to those utilized in Quebec's TKO events, with an amateur set being developed as well. Darrah also informed FCF that he is hoping to hold the event's bouts within a cage when the Western Freestyle Championships returns. |
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