The Fall of Canadian MMA

[Danas_right]

At one point, Dana called Canada the Mecca of MMA. Canadians would travel all over north America to go to the ufc cards. Some of those Montreal cards were the loudest I've ever heard an arena. Biggest attendance in UFC history at one point.

Canada had the best P4P fighter and lots of other guys fighting for belts. After Rory it kind of fell off. No new top guys. Havent had an event in Canada in over 5 years.

Why did MMA fall off so much in Canada?

 

[AmericanMMA]

Because Jonathan Goulet.

 

[DoubleA012]

I think it's a lot of factors. The education of the society as a whole, their economic factors, the population of the country, the best Canadian fighters being retired (no one to look up to for young generations) and all of those things combining into decisions for Canadiens on whether they want to be fighters or not.

 

[LouisBolanos]

Canada is pretty shit in most sports that don’t involve ice and snow so it’s to be expected. GSP was a one-off exception, plus he’s French Canadian and Quebec should be an independent country anyway.

 

[Liverkick-king56]

UFC seems to lack the dedication to Canadian fans. The gyms don't seem as strong as gyms in the US too. Canadians main skill seems to be toughness and unlike Aussies there isn't that natural strength of a bear.
Toronto cards were normal and massive before Zuffa was bought out and I think WME doesn't see the profit in targeting Canada without just including them in US promos.
Only reason Brazil is going strong is because fighting seems to be a strong part of their culture regardless if the UFC forgets about them. Muay Thai will never die in Thailand just like BJJ won't die in Brazil.

 

[Ares Black]

Quebec should be an independent country anyway.

LOL, no.

 

[DoubleA012]

UFC seems to lack the dedication to Canadian fans. The gyms don't seem as strong as gyms in the US too. Canadians main skill seems to be toughness and unlike Aussies there isn't that natural strength of a bear.
Toronto cards were normal and massive before Zuffa was bought out and I think WME doesn't see the profit in targeting Canada without just including them in US promos.
Only reason Brazil is going strong is because fighting seems to be a strong part of their culture regardless if the UFC forgets about them. Muay Thai will never die in Thailand just like BJJ won't die in Brazil.

Also Brazil has a population of like 214 million and Canada's is around 38 million. Just like India, China and the continent of Africa are big targets for the UFC because of their populations exceeding one billion people, by pure odds and numbers they're bound to find more talent in one of those regions.

 

[Henatch]

GSP is a great figh'er but I am a bet'er figh'er den 'im

 

[Rambo89]

As a Canadian, I have thought about why this could be. I think there are a few factors.
1. Culture: In Canada, kids grow up playing Hockey. We don't have a strong emphasis on wrestling programs at a young age. Even though a lot of kids do karate and judo as kids, they quickly move on to other sports when they become teenagers.
2. Population: Canada only has 38 million people and 60% of those are in Quebec & Ontario. US (332 mil), Russia (143 mil), and Brazil (214 mil) all have more fighting culture with Wrestling, Sambo, and BJJ being major sports in those countries.

We had a major push in schools opening and a lot of people started training while GSP was the welterweight champion but since then we haven't had a Canadian star in any major MMA promotion. We have noone to cheer for to bring back the Canadian MMA pride.

 

[Johnnny]

Why did MMA fall off so much in Canada?

It can all be traced back to GSP's cowardly decision nearly a decade ago.

GSP vacated the belt at age 32 after he got his face beaten into hamburger meat in a split decision that essentially everyone thought he lost. He emerged from hiding to challenge a 38 year old middleweight with one eye that was never one of the top 5 active fighters in his division. Then GSP vacated again and avoided facing the division's best fighters.

The career of GSP's heir apparent, Rory MacDonald, crashed and burned, finally culminating in early retirement last summer at age 33 after repeatedly being beaten by welterweights outside of top 50.

It has been almost 10 years since TJ Grant rose up the lightweight rankings to earn a title shot at age 29, but he pulled out with an injury. Then he got concussed in training and left MMA without fighting again.

Elias Theorodou, Ryan Jimmo, and Tim Hague all died at age 34 after being cut from the UFC.

Patrick Côté and Sam Stout finished their UFC careers with losing records, each racking up 11 losses.

Mark Hominick climbed the ranks of WEC's featherweight division to get a title shot in the UFC after the acquisition, but then went 1-4 in the UFC.

Chap Laprise, Kajan Johnson, Jason Saggo were all cut from the UFC after they each lost their last 2 fights. Nordine Taleb was cut after being finished in 3 of his last 4 fights.

Mitch Clarke announced his retirement in the octagon to preempt being cut after a 3rd straight loss dropped his record to 2-5 in the UFC.

Misha Cirkunov was cut from the UFC a few months ago after losing his last 4 fights to drop his record to 6-7. He was finished in 6 of those 7 losses.

Jesse Ronson was also cut from UFC last year after going 0-5 (1 NC). His only win was overturned after he tested positive for PEDs.

Who is left?

Journeymen at risk of being cut like Tanner Boser, Marc-André Barriault (busted for PEDs), and John Makdessi.

Hakeem Dawodu appears destined for journeyman status after losing 2 of his last 3 fights and 3 of his 6 wins have come by split decision.

Kyle Nelson is somehow still in the UFC despite going 1-4-1 and being finished in 3 of those losses.

Gavin Tucker hasn't fought in over 2 years.

Charles Jourdain has talent but he has a losing record in the UFC and has lost 5 times in the last 3 years.

Aiemann Zahabi fights sporadically and now he is too old for bantamweight. Sounds like Mitch Gagnon who is even older and fights even more sporadically.

Olivier Aubin-Mercier winning a tournament in a minor league after losing his last 3 UFC fights (all on Canadian soil) is Canada's biggest MMA accomplishment in half a decade.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

covid and it taking a while to re-open is why they haven't been there in a while.

Talent wise I think it's just because everyone else has caught up rather than because Canada has dropped off really. Population wise they used to punch massively above their weight, although it also helped that it was probably easier to bring fighters in from there than anywhere else.

 

[BJJ4Tone]

At one point, Dana called Canada the Mecca of MMA. Canadians would travel all over north America to go to the ufc cards. Some of those Montreal cards were the loudest I've ever heard an arena. Biggest attendance in UFC history at one point.

Canada had the best P4P fighter and lots of other guys fighting for belts. After Rory it kind of fell off. No new top guys. Havent had an event in Canada in over 5 years.

Why did MMA fall off so much in Canada?

Well you're listening to Dana, so there's your first mistake.


Dana called Canada the Mecca of MMA. LOL. Ok.
Dana also said:

Dana will say ANYTHING if it fits his narrative that day. Especially if there is money to be made.

NEVER FORGET

 

[Jinx_AA]

Canadas useless givernment and ridiculous Covid resttictions made it impossible for them to come to
Canada the last few years

they fan base is still strong here

they’ll be back with events for sure

 

[Ibm]

I don't know where he got that from. He just saying that because of GSP. Im Canadian, and the fan base is not as strong as it seems.

 

[DS66]

These things go in cycles. There are some countries that will always be strong in MMA, but for other smaller countries where combat sports aren't exactly at the top of the food chain, it goes in cycles.

There's a few decent up and coming Canadians out there to watch out for. Mike Malott is a guy in particular that I'm pretty high on, the guy is a savage with power and legit all-around skills. He just beat Yohan lainesse who is another skilled Canadian UFC fighter. Hakeem Dawodu has been a bit of a disappointment in the UFC but he's super talented and I think he can still make some noise. Same goes for Charles Jourdain who's still only 27 and has all the skills to be a legit contender if he can improve his defense and fight IQ.

Outside of the UFC there's the Canadian Gangster Olivier Aubin Mercier who won the PFL LW tourney in impressive fashion, I hope he gets another shot in the UFC. There's also Jeremy Kennedy who is making some noise in Bellator and might get a title shot there soon.

 

[ImCertainOfCirkunov]

Shocked nobody had brought up COVID, that is the reason Canada hasn't had a card in almost 4 years.

There was 3-4 cards per year in Canada, every year, right up until COVID. Canada put in harsh restrictions for non vaxed athletes (well, everyone really) and the UFC has refused to come back since. That IS the reason we haven't seen a card since 2019.

Now, the topic of Canadian talent falling off is a different one altogether. Frankly, I would contend that outside of GSP (and to a much lesser extent, Rory) Canada has never really had much top level MMA talent. Canadian MMA has always consisted of a bunch of journeymen, not much different now just seems to be a few less than usual.

 

[Danas_right]

It can all be traced back to GSP's cowardly decision nearly a decade ago.

GSP vacated the belt at age 32 after he got his face beaten into hamburger meat in a split decision that essentially everyone thought he lost. He emerged from hiding to challenge a 38 year old middleweight with one eye that was never one of the top 5 active fighters in his division. Then GSP vacated again and avoided facing the division's best fighters.

The career of GSP's heir apparent, Rory MacDonald, crashed and burned, finally culminating in early retirement last summer at age 33 after repeatedly being beaten by welterweights outside of top 50.

It has been almost 10 years since TJ Grant rose up the lightweight rankings to earn a title shot at age 29, but he pulled out with an injury. Then he got concussed in training and left MMA without fighting again.

Elias Theorodou, Ryan Jimmo, and Tim Hague all died at age 34 after being cut from the UFC.

Patrick Côté and Sam Stout finished their UFC careers with losing records, each racking up 11 losses.

Mark Hominick climbed the ranks of WEC's featherweight division to get a title shot in the UFC after the acquisition, but then went 1-4 in the UFC.

Chap Laprise, Kajan Johnson, Jason Saggo were all cut from the UFC after they each lost their last 2 fights. Nordine Taleb was cut after being finished in 3 of his last 4 fights.

Mitch Clarke announced his retirement in the octagon to preempt being cut after a 3rd straight loss dropped his record to 2-5 in the UFC.

Misha Cirkunov was cut from the UFC a few months ago after losing his last 4 fights to drop his record to 6-7. He was finished in 6 of those 7 losses.

Jesse Ronson was also cut from UFC last year after going 0-5 (1 NC). His only win was overturned after he tested positive for PEDs.

Who is left?

Journeymen at risk of being cut like Tanner Boser, Marc-André Barriault (busted for PEDs), and John Makdessi.

Hakeem Dawodu appears destined for journeyman status after losing 2 of his last 3 fights and 3 of his 6 wins have come by split decision.

Kyle Nelson is somehow still in the UFC despite going 1-4-1 and being finished in 3 of those losses.

Gavin Tucker hasn't fought in over 2 years.

Charles Jourdain has talent but he has a losing record in the UFC and has lost 5 times in the last 3 years.

Aiemann Zahabi fights sporadically and now he is too old for bantamweight. Sounds like Mitch Gagnon who is even older and fights even more sporadically.

Olivier Aubin-Mercier winning a tournament in a minor league after losing his last 3 UFC fights (all on Canadian soil) is Canada's biggest MMA accomplishment in half a decade.

GSP fought the best in the world for years. The Hendricks fight was close which usually goes to the champ.

One eyed Bisping beat Hendo, Rockhold and Anderston Silva.

This whole post is just silly. Every fighter ends their career on a losing streak except GSP, maybe Bas too. Jon Jones we will see. You're a hater

 

[Sean_wongster_wongmastter]

It's been downhill for Canadian MMA ever since Bradley Heart was screwed by Vance McKinney.

 

[hswrestler]

Canada is pretty shit in most sports that don’t involve ice and snow so it’s to be expected. GSP was a one-off exception, plus he’s French Canadian and Quebec should be an independent country anyway.

For a country with the population the size of california, they are pretty good at basketball and soccer

 

[IDL]

I think it's a lot of factors. The education of the society as a whole, their economic factors, the population of the country, the best Canadian fighters being retired (no one to look up to for young generations) and all of those things combining into decisions for Canadiens on whether they want to be fighters or not.

I don't think that has changed though. Seems to me there were more Canadians in MMA at a high level back in the day.
I recall reading something about the smaller MMA orgs in Canada being shut down due to regulations (either directly, or indirectly through cost of operations due to those regulations) though so it's possible that has something to do with it. Less of a grassroots feeding system.