By MIKE JOHNSTONPreviously, at this time of the year, Tom Wright would be preparing for the start of the Canadian Football League season. However, these days he is preparing for a new era in combat sports north of the border.
With the recent announcement that the former CFL commissioner has joined forces with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, mixed martial arts has taken a major step forward in its Canadian development. Wright was named Director of Operations for the UFC’s Canadian headquarters, which will be located and run somewhere in the city of Toronto, and Wright says it will be a similar set up to when he was with the CFL.
“We had to make a choice to where we should set up our national office, and not unlike the Canadian Football League, that competes in all the different cities across the country, the CFL is located here in Toronto and so will the UFC,” said Wright.
FROM THE GRIDIRON TO THE OCTAGON
Wright is a genial, soft-spoken and astute businessman, and it seems as though he is the perfect fit to help the UFC grow their brand in Ontario and across Canada. “After a long search, talking to a lot of people, we feel like we found the perfect person,” said UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta during a press conference at the Rogers Centre. “[Wright] brings a unique blend of business experience and sports experience.”
Wright said that his immediate goals are to continue to work towards having the sport sanctioned and regulated all across the country. Recently, Wright attended WEC 49 in Edmonton and believes that event was a step in the right direction for MMA expansion in Canada. Wright said they plan on taking both Zuffa promotions all across the country. "Edmonton [and WEC 49], I think, is a great example of how we can expand our sport, and the province of Alberta is really just like B.C. and Quebec and Ontario, a strong base for our fans," said Wright.
Wright mentioned plans to bring MMA shows, such as UFC Fight Nights, to smaller cities, not strictly major ones like Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. “The other kinds of cities I was talking about, as it relates to Fight Nights, you can go across Canada and there are a lot of great sports cities in our country. Even in Atlantic Canada, you look at the Halifax's of the world, the Moncton's of the world, you go into Quebec and of course everybody thinks about Montreal, but Quebec City is a fabulous sports town as well," said Wright.
The national sport of Canada is hockey, of course, which seems to be a perfect fit for the UFC and the WEC, as those arenas can easily be converted into venues for the fights. Targeting those places, and a few others, Wright says will be in the plans for future events.
"Look at the hockey venues that are here, these hockey venues are perfect for our events," Wright said. "Not only UFC, but WEC as well. Rexall Place is a great facility in Edmonton, the Saddledome in Calgary, you look at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, or the Coliseum in Hamilton, the list just keeps on going and going. Winnepeg is another place.
"I was on a couple of Saskatchewan radio programs, and there's even been talk about a new stadium is going to be built there for the Saskatchewan Rough Riders of the CFL, and that could be a spot."
THE ‘WRIGHT’ MAN FOR THE JOB
Without question, Wright was the best choice for this position and will be a great ambassador to the sport for years to come. “After my family, the most important things and my passions really are sports and my country,” said Wright. “This is a tremendous opportunity for me to now join the world’s fastest growing sport with the number one brand and the number one business in that sport, not only here in Canada, but across the world.”
The plan to open a UFC office in Canada with Wright heading the operation had been in the works for a while according to Fertitta. “We’ve been talking about how important the Canadian market is to us now for about a year and a half, and it was in October of last year where we first met Tom,” said Fertitta. “He came out to the first fight between Lyoto Machida and ‘Shogun’ Rua in Los Angeles, and we had kind of our first discussions, started talking about what the opportunity was, got familiar with his background and continued to talk throughout. And it was about the first of the year that we said ‘you know what, we’re going to make a commitment, we want to have a presence in Canada.’ And after a couple months we came to an agreement, and Tom decided to come on board and here we are off and going.”
Prior to his role with the CFL, Wright was the President of Adidas Canada and President and CEO of Salomon North America. Wright is involved with several charitable organizations and is the Chairman of Special Olympics Canada.
For anyone who doubts Wright is the ideal man for the job, UFC President Dana White replies, “Did you hear his resume? He’s obviously the right fit, it’s perfect. We’re very confident that he’s the man to lead the charge up here.”
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