MMA has continued its growth in legitimacy with regulations passed in recent months to legalize the sport in both Massachusetts and Vancouver. However, MMA remains illegal in two of the most potentially lucrative markets in North America: Canada's most populated province, Ontario, and US' most populated state, New York.
In a 20-minute documentary to make its web premiere Thursday, director Bobby Razak explores the difficulty in legalizing the sport.
"It's really to bring light to what is going on," Razak told FanHouse in an interview in November. "To show certain people in the hierarchy – the New York state commissions, the Toronto commissions – to show what our sport is about, how impressive it is, what good it does to the economy, what good it does to troubled youth. This is a great sport. These are great people and let's let them do what they want to do."
As shown in the trailer above, "MMA shows" had to be held in Quebec under restrictive rules as "mixed boxing" and in New York behind closed doors through the long-running Underground Combat Fight League.
The film hopes awareness will eventually convince legislature to regulate the sport in New York and Ontario.
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