By Jeff D'Andrea

Hard Knocks MMA “close” to holding event in P.A.

Aug 13, 2011 | 7:43 AM

Prince Albert could be the scene of a mixed martial arts event in the near future as Calgary-based MMA company, Hard Knocks Fighting Championships, have shown interest in holding an event in P.A.

After holding their first 12 fights at their home base in Calgary, the company has started to expand as they have scheduled two fights in Saskatchewan in October. There will be an event in Regina Oct. 7 and in Estevan, Oct. 22.

It’s only a matter of time before the event reaches Prince Albert, said Ari Taub, CEO of Hard Knocks.

“I think we’re relatively close,” said Taub.

“There’s a bunch of logistics we have to deal with, we have to hammer out a deal with the venue and we need to make an application to the city, which we haven’t done yet. Assuming the city is eager to have us, so I think we should be pretty close.”

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Taub believes that having fight cards around the Western Canada, and eventually the nation, helps promote the sport and will help promote the fight community in Prince Albert.

“When we go do events in P.A., there’s going to be more fighters that will train in P.A., and the more events we do, the more clubs and athletes there will be. It’s kind of like a vicious circle,” said Taub.

“It’s important to have events on a regular basis in all the cities and small towns, because that will drive participation in our sport.”

Hard Knocks is aptly named as it allows fighters with no prior match experience to begin their amateur careers, as well as feature some professional fighters at their events as well.

Fighters can apply on-line to enter into fights and Taub said that one of the mandates of Hard Knocks is to give fighters a chance to get out of their MMA gyms and into an octagon.

“My analogy for it is in, if you had a bunch of 10-year-olds playing hockey, how long would they be happy to practice before they played a game? The answer is probably not very long,” said Taub.

“That really is where we’re at in MMA, if you never get to play the game, people lose interest in practicing.

“As soon as there’s that carrot of the game, more people start to play. When more people play, the level of competition goes up, the level of training goes up and the fighters learn stuff, bring it back to the clubs and more clubs start, and on and on and on.”

jdandrea@panow.com