Kristi Patton - Penticton Western News Published: March 31, 2009 6:00 PM
Love it or hate it, mixed martial arts could be arriving at the South Okanagan Events Centre soon. The City of Penticton council voted in favour of allowing cage fighting events at the SOEC by a margin of 3-2 during a recent council meeting. Only councillors Garry Litke and Judy Sentes were opposed to giving the go-ahead to Global Spectrum, the managing company for the SOEC, to put their feelers out for such an event. At the March 16 council meeting it was mentioned that council had voted to support the decision to look into an International Fighting Championships caged combat event. Mayor Dan Ashton was not present for the vote and Coun. Dan Albas excused himself due to a potential conflict of interest — the councillor runs Premier Martial Arts in Penticton. “It guess it’s a personal decision for me,” said Coun. Sentes. “I don’t consider that a form of entertainment that I would like to see us host and I worry about the viciousness of it. I know there is every intent to regulate it but I still would rather see us make other choices as to the entertainment we offer. It is not always about money and I am as conscious as anyone on council as to the financial requirements of the facility and our obligations but I hope we make good choices still.” While nothing is set in stone yet, Global Spectrum does have some prospects for an event.
“We are currently getting all our ducks in a row regarding the athletic commission, etc.,” said Carla Seddon, marketing manager of the South Okanagan Events Centre. One of the issues could be the concern for crowd control and the possibility that a raucous group could spell out trouble for the city if they are not kept under control. “I can tell you that we tailor our security based on the event needs that we have in our building. We don’t anticipate any problems and will be taking a proactive approach to security,” said Seddon.
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