At UFC 189, a whole nation will be on the edge of their seats. A new star could be born, one who will hold the championship proudly. Then again, it could all come crashing down due to the dominance of an American.
The nation of Ireland have backed their fellow country man Conor McGregor, and if the hype train rolls through Chad Mendes, MMA in Ireland will explode, much like it once did in Canada.
To talk about Canada as the Mecca of MMA is to open the history books and revel in the past. There was a time where Canadians travelled thousands of miles to watch their native son compete against the best in the world. Canadian flags could be seen throughout the American arenas, with near deafening chants of “GSP, GSP, GSP!!!” echoing around the octagon.
“I wish, like everyone else, that GSP would come back. It’s sad to see the sport carry on without him, but c’est la vie (that’s life).” – Gary Goodridge (Canadian MMA Pioneer)
Now that Georges St. Pierre is gone, MMA in Canada has not been the same. Even before his departure, there was a sense in Canada that the sport had already reached its peak. There was no longer a sense of excitement from Canadian fans when the UFC rolled into a major Canadian city.
You can never blame the fans for this sort of downward trend. It is up to the UFC to get fans excited for events. While the UFC has focused on global domination and strengthening its ties with Brazil, Canada has been left behind, receiving PPV’s that would struggle to get ratings on Fox.
The first four events in Canada received a combined 2.22 million PPV buys. The last four events in Canada have received a combined 690,000 PPV buys!
Dating back to 2006, the UFC has put on 129 PPV events. Only 5 of those events have ever received 150,000 buys or less, with three having taken place in Canada since GSP’s final event on home soil .
With the UFC not bringing quality shows to Canada and MMA fans in Canada feeling disenchanted by the sport they once awed at, it’s no surprise that the local MMA scene has fallen on hard times.
There is no doubt that in parts of Canada, local MMA has suffered. Nick Baldwin of MMASucka.com has previously outlined how both Ontario and the prairie provinces are suffering from a lack of events. The Canadian Fighting Championship closed up shop in 2013 after hosting seven events, while Aggression Fighting Championship was acquired by WSOF Canada.
Provinces like Alberta and British Columbia are the exception as there is a ton of local MMA and a very passionate fan base, with shows like Unified, Hark Knocks and World Series of Fighting. Unfortunately, Canada is a very large country, and fighters living in Quebec and Ontario can’t always afford to take a long trip out west.
“If they’re having trouble finding fights then they won’t be able to do it as a full time gig. That will make their skills suffer. Canadian MMA could suffer from that unfortunately. ” – John Alessio (Bellator MMA)
Rory MacDonald won’t be the guy to bring MMA back to the forefront of Canadian minds, right? I mean, he is a great, young fighter, but does he have the qualities that a young Georges St. Pierre had?
St. Pierre won his first welterweight championship at the age of 26. If Rory were to beat Robbie Lawler at UFC 189, he would hold the championship two weeks before his 26th birthday. So in terms of age, MacDonald will be a young, but very experienced new champion, just as St. Pierre was.
But St. Pierre was known early on for his exciting style and great finishes. Rory has had his fair share of boring fights, but also holds two Fight of the Night bonuses. His fighting style is also very similar to that of St. Pierre. If he can finish Lawler impressively, as St. Pierre did to Hughes, it would go a long way into changing fan perception.
The main problem might be patriotism. I googled “Rory MacDonald Canadian Flag” assuming that I could find a good picture of Rory holding the red and white maple leaf flag, proudly showing his allegiance to Canada. Not a single photo could be found.
Meanwhile Georges St. Pierre… actually let me google “Georges St. Pierre Canadian Flag” quickly.
Well, I’ll be damned. Not a single photo of him holding a Canadian flag. The three-time Canadian Athlete of the Year never walked into the octagon or celebrated victory with his country’s flag. Type in Conor McGregor and you’ll see plenty of photos of him with the Ireland flag both inside and outside of the cage, showing off his patriotism.
I guess a big factor in MacDonald not getting as much attention in Canada would be his soft spoken nature, which he probably learned from his often soft spoken mentor… Georges St. Pierre.
“Rory is good, damn he’s very good. But at the time, GSP was one of a kind. Even if Rory wins the title, I don’t think he will have the same status as GSP.” – Louis Fissette (Canadian MMA Fighter, TUF 18 Alumni)
So why was Georges St. Pierre such a big deal in Canada? If you take both McGregor and GSP and compare them, you could not get two more polar opposite characters. How was GSP able to make a nation fall in love with him without the charisma and the brash smack talk of a Bisping, Sonnen or McGregor?
Humble, apologetic, disciplined, soft-spoken, clean-cut, not overly patriotic and the mindset of a champion. These things are so inherently Canadian that it’s not surprising that GSP was able to capture the nation’s attention.
With all of that aside, the single most important reason for why St. Pierre was a big deal in Canada is that he was a champion. Not just a normal champion, but one of the greatest champions our sport has ever seen.
MMA in Canada will not explode again if Rory MacDonald is successful in winning the UFC Welterweight Championship at UFC 189 this Saturday. It will however give the UFC a reason to bring a big event to Canada, give Canadian kids a fighter to idolize, and give Canadian fans a reason to fall in love with MMA all over again.
“[On MacDonald becoming UFC Champion] Hopefully that happens. It would be great for our country if that ends up happening.” – Mike Ricci (MacDonald’s training partner, Titan FC Lightweight,)
It will take time, effort, a little bit of luck and a whole lot of winning, but if MacDoanld is ready for it, it may be time to step out from his mentor’s shadows and revive MMA in Canada, one win at a time.
