UFC is already a star on pay-per-view and becoming a good property on conventional television, but having events in Ontario would boost ratings even more.
"It would be great for the TV business and the economy in general," said Anthony Cicione, general manager of The Fight Network. "When you have an event like that in your city, it creates a buzz among advertisers and among viewers.
"Anytime you can create that kind of buzz and bring that kind of money to a province, it's a win-win for everybody."
The key is advertisers, many of whom aren't aware of the popularity of mixed martial arts.
Since the big Canadian ad agencies are all in Toronto, Cicione says, being exposed to an arena full of UFC fans would help drive them towards the sport.
UFC is already the top seller on pay-per-view in Canada, with more than 20,000 people paying upwards of $50 per fight.
On Sunday, Rogers Sportsnet showed a live event on two of its four channels and drew an average audience of 336,000.
—Chris Zelkovich
The world according to Dana White, few will be surprised to hear, is all about testosterone.
"Fighting was the first sport," the hard-nosed president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship told some 300 adoring fans at the Eaton Centre on Tuesday.
"Two men were put on this Earth, and somebody threw a punch. And if people were around, they watched it – you know what I mean?
"I don't care what colour you are, what country you're from or what language you speak – at the end of the day we're all human beings and fighting is in our DNA," White continued. "We get it and we like it." The problem for White – and Ontario fans of mixed martial arts – is that Premier Dalton McGuinty shows little sign of "getting it." The sport is banned in Ontario. And White's bid to promote it in Toronto Tuesday did little to move the premier.
"It's just not on the agenda for us right now," McGuinty told reporters, adding that it would be a "distraction" for the government to consider it.
"If I was to knock on 1,000 Ontario families' doors and ask them for their top three concerns, I'd be surprised if anybody said, `Well ... one of those is we've got to start this new kind of mixed martial arts in Ontario. That's going to mean a lot to me and my family,'" said McGuinty.
"It's just not a priority for our families and it's not a priority for me," he added.
Told of McGuinty's comments, White still found room for optimism. He suggested it's only a matter of time before Ontario legalizes what some have described as the fastest growing sport in the U.S.
"This is a real sport, with real athletes – it would be like saying the NBA shouldn't come here, or the NFL," White told reporters.
"I think fans here are frustrated. This is the Mecca, this is our biggest market," he said, referring to Ontario. "These are the people who travel all over the world to see our events, and they can't get it here in their hometown."
White said he would not meet with Ontario politicians while here.
The province insists the fighting style contravenes section 83 of Canada's Criminal Code, which bans the promotion and staging of "prize fights," except sanctioned boxing.
UFC officials have estimated that cards in Toronto would generate $23 million in spending, including ticket sales, $6 million more in salaries and $4 million in tax revenues.
The gospel according to White, 40, is what the crowd of mostly young males came to hear. They welcomed him like a rock star when White – bald, pumped up, and in fashionably torn jeans – hopped on the stage near the mall's Dundas St. entrance for an hour-long question and answer session with fans.
Many credit White's salesmanship with UFC's success.
A privately owned MMA circuit, UFC was valued by Forbes magazine in 2008 at more than $1 billion (U.S.) – a stunning achievement for a company that was more than $40 million in debt just five years ago. White owns a 10 per cent stake. UFC isn't the only company with a stable of fighters under contract, but it is by far the most successful.
White dismissed criticism about the low pay of some of his fighters, balked at calls to form a UFC women's loop – despite a young woman shouting, "Chicks kick ass" – and discussed negotiations for U.S. network TV rights. He even explained censoring a poster – he removed an anti-China tattoo from one of the fighters pictured – because he wants to expand into the Chinese market.
If there was a common concern among fans, it was that some still consider the sport "bloodthirsty," as one questioner lamented. Indeed, U.S. Senator John McCain once famously described it as "human cockfighting."
"There are more deaths and more serious injuries in cheerleading than there are in the UFC," White told the audience.
"Where did you get that stat?" a skeptical young woman asked.
As far as the male fans were concerned, the tougher the fight the better.
"It's a real adrenalin rush," said Eddy Haynes, 40, a roofer who had the day off due to rain. "It's a lot better than boxing. Once you go for the kill, that's it, you go for the kill."
But Anna Dinardo, 28, admitted to a sometimes uncomfortable feeling when she's attended fights with her husband, a UFC fanatic.
"I know some people think it's a little bit gory, but the rules they implemented make it not too barbaric from a woman's point of view," she said in an interview before White took the stage. "But sometimes, when it gets a little bloody, I do have to sort of turn away," she added.
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