Combat sports are unquestionably among the fastest growing on the planet in terms of participants and spectator interest, and a local group is aiming to make live sanctioned fights a regular occurrence in Timmins.
True North Fights is project created by Matthew Poulin, owner of Total Martial Arts Centre on Spruce Street. A very successful debut event was held on September 23 at the McIntyre Curling Club, featuring 10 live Muay Thai bouts. Although it was a success, there is room to grow according to Poulin, as some locals didn't believe the event was real.
"Some people said 'that doesn't happen here."
Despite that, over 550 people attended the Saturday night event.
"It was amazing. Good energy the whole night. The local guys got a huge pop," said Poulin, noting that it was the first opportunity for local fighters to perform in front of a hometown crowd.
He said he learned a lot in organizing his first major event, including the need to be diligent in publicizing.
"I think especially for the first few we just need to get the word out sooner, so people can plan for it. The next one is going to be in May. We're already planning for that. I've already heard from people who want to buy tables, who want buy VIP seats already."
He was happy with the crowd of 550, but said that the venue could accommodate approximately 700.
"There was still so much room in that building. It didn't even seem like there was 550 people. So everyone was very comfortable. Nobody really complained about overheating or anything, which was nice."
Poulin said that although the McIntyre Curling Club proved to be a solid venue, the next event isn't necessarily taking place there again.
"We're going to search some different venues, and see the numbers, and go from there."
Feedback from the athletes and coaches was almost universally positive.
"When you have all the Southern Ontario guys saying this was one of the best shows they've been to, you know you've hit a home run. Because they fight every weekend down south. Quite possibly they have a show every weekend, or twice a week if they wanted to. That was my favourite part of it actually. When the coaches told me that. I thought 'we're doing something good here."
His team partnered with the Timmins Festivals and Events Committee on TNF1.
"It was good working with them. They took a lot of pressure off my shoulders in terms of the bar side of things, which was great."
He has already been approached by some 'big' local businesses who want to sponsor the next event.
The first event was an all Muay Thai card due to a decision made this summer by the Ontario government which stated that all MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) competitions are now illegal in the province.
"At first I was disappointed that we couldn't do MMA, but as we got closer and closer, I think that having Muay Thai was the best thing we could have done because every single fight was exciting. Some people up here might not be as appreciative of the wrestling and grappling part of it. So maybe if it does come back, we can start putting a couple MMA in there, and move up," said Poulin.
He would like to eventually have a mixed card comprised of K1(kickboxing), Muay Thai, and MMA, but a lot of that is in the hands of government bureaucrats.
The first True North Fights was a much smaller card than originally planned.
Head coach and owner of Total Martial Arts Centre Matthew Poulin. Andrew Autio for TimminsToday "The week before, I had 15. Things happened, then we were down to 11. The night of, one of the guys got hurt warming up, blew out his knee. So we were down to 10. But it was amazing. I thought the show might go by too fast, but it ended up okay, and we actually left them wanting more."
Regarding the follow up event, he said once the venue is decided upon, floor plans will be drawn up and planning will move ahead with a goal of surpassing numbers on the first event.
"The budget on the first one was very high. So we're trying to keep the quality really high, so everyone enjoys it as much as the first one."
He said the people of Timmins were surprisingly receptive.
"The response I've gotten, from people who I didn't even know liked fights, loved it. So I think it's going to be a home run up north. It's so different from any other live event. The energy is just so different in a live competition like this."
Poulin said there are similar shows in Sudbury, and sometimes in North Bay, but they don't receive much media attention. True North Fights is hoping to increase popularity for the sports throughout Northern Ontario.
"Hopefully all the shows can pick up steam from the Timmins show being so well received."
Poulin wants to apply his marketing background to promote the next event even more, and is cooking up ideas in that regard. He and his team are determined to build off the success of the first event.
"Even the guys who lost, they said they had such a good time. Apparently they don't get treated that well at some other events, so I was glad to contribute positively."
