King of the Cage Canada will return to Vancouver Island on October 18th, as Nanaimo, BC, will once again be the host city for the promotion. Recently FCF caught up with King of the Cage Canada promoter John Cooper, who has been front and center once again in putting together the West Coast’s latest event. Last year on November 17th, the promotion held its first event in Nanaimo, titled “November Rain.”

“The athletic commission sanctioning King of the Cage on October 18th is the Nanaimo Athletic Commission,” Cooper told FCF. “The Nanaimo Athletic Commission has been sanctioning combat sports events in the city of Nanaimo for decades, and they are very supportive of the King of the Cage organization. The City of Nanaimo seems to recognize that Mixed Martial Arts is one of the fastest growing spectator sports in the country and has been eager to establish a long term relationship with Canada’s only national MMA organization in King of the Cage Canada. Nanaimo has a long history in the world of combat sports, what started out as a boxing fan base has evolved into a combat sports fan base that has embraced MMA and King of the Cage. The Nanaimo Athletic Commission are a pleasure to work with, although I must admit that all the commissions, with the exception of Vancouver, have been helpful and cooperative when it comes to promoting professional Mixed Martial Arts in BC.”

When one usually thinks about the Canadian MMA scene, one might typically consider Alberta, Quebec or Atlantic Canada, as the regions where the sport is quite popular. According to Cooper, like many other regions throughout the country, MMA is also taking hold in Vancouver Island.

“The sport has grown on the island, and just about every where else in North America,” Cooper said. “When I first started promoting this sport my biggest battle was explaining to people what it was, now the biggest problem is convincing them that watching it live is a lot better than watching it on TV.”

As far as local fighters?

“The island is finally starting to produce some reputable MMA talent,” said Cooper. “In my experience, one of the things that separates the island athletes from some other areas, is there willingness to fight. Every athlete I deal with on the island, just wants to fight. There is none of this handpicking opponents, they fight who they fight, and have fun doing it. Out of Nanaimo, obviously Nick Hinchliffe and Aaron Bruce have plenty of cage experience, but I am keeping my eye on some of the younger guys like Darcy James at 155. Adam Gabel from Stan Peterec’s camp in Victoria is going to be putting his 5-0 record on the line against Aaron Bruce on October 18th, that’s going to be a good one at 170lbs.”

In addition to Gabel and Bruce; Cooper maintains other local fighters will be competing at the upcoming event.

“The card is coming together nicely. We are looking at about 16 fights; almost every fight has a Vancouver Island MMA athlete. The main event can’t be announced yet, but will be shortly. The undercard will include athletes from Nanaimo, Victoria, Campbell River, Port Alberni, Fort St. Johns, Prince George, and the lower mainland. This is grass roots BC MMA at its finest.”

And Cooper’s thoughts on the continued ban of MMA events in the Province’s biggest market of Vancouver?

“The current ban on MMA in Vancouver is really too bad, there was a good fan base in the region and those fans deserve to see some live MMA. As I have said before, the fact that we’re still talking about legalizing MMA in 2008 boggles my mind. The evidence is undeniable in supporting the safety of MMA. If you are going to allow any contact sport, be it football, lacrosse, rugby or hockey, you have to allow MMA, the risks are the same, accept them, minimize them and let free spirited humans make their own choices.”