In a country where our favourite sport can have a bare-knuckles boxing match breakout at any second, why is it so hard to put a mixed martial arts event together? UFC 115 was booked and (thought to be) a done deal for June 12th at GM Place. We’ve since learned that’s not the case. Some sources are reporting that it’s definitely being moved to Cincinnati, others are reporting the deal isn’t done quite yet. One month after our biggest party since ’86, we’re back to No-Fun-Couver. Montreal had similar hurdles two years ago for UFC 83: Serra Vs. St. Pierre 2 and (for whatever reason) even more hurdles last year for UFC 97: Redemption, though this year’s event at the Bell Centre (at least so far) seems to be going on without a hitch. Now this could be smoke and mirrors by the UFC to create attention for the event and make sure the deal gets done but if not, it’s mind-boggling that when our national sport is lacrosse, our favourite sport is hockey, and our version football doesn’t have a fair catch rule, bureaucracy is preventing an event that will (easily) sellout an 18-thousand-and-change seat stadium and bring a ton of cash-flow into the city. We like violent, physical sports. And this one, believe it or not, has a pretty good safety record. No one’s died, at least not in the UFC, and serious injuries are few and far between. You don’t see a lot of fighters being carried off in stretchers, unlike a certain hockey league lately. If safety is really the concern, then the people holding this up need to do their homework.