University of New Brunswick Bans Combat Sports on Campus

The Aitken Centre was packed in 2016 for the second L-Jack Promotions Inc. World Class Boxing Event (Photo Credit: L-Jack Promotions Inc. / Brandon Brewer)

 

Over the last five years, combat sports have taken a noticeable shift from being promoted exclusively in major city centres and well established venues, to being more accessible locally. This change has been the result of the loosened regulations and the implementation of permanent athletic commissions dedicated to overseeing the safe and just practices. In 2015, the New Brunswick Combat Sports Commission decided to expand the territory in which events could take place within the restricted Moncton and Shediac area, to the entire province. Since the ruling, events in Saint John, Fredericton, and Kedgwick have taken place and the sport’s fan base has continued to grow.

When the City of Fredericton approved combat sports to take place at non-municipal owned facilities in 2015, one of the city’s largest sporting venues, the Aitken Centre at the University of New Brunswick, was selected to host multiple events. According to a February 2017 article by Fredericton’s 105.3 the FOX, the first two boxing events put on by local promoter and boxer Brandon Brewer (22-0-1) averaged “3,500 spectators per event”.

In 2017 the City of Fredericton approved combat sports at municipally owned facilities, such as the Grant-Harvey Centre and Willie O’Ree Place. Since this ruling, L-Jack Promotions Inc. has put on two shows at the Grant-Harvey, while Evolution Training Center’s Andy Young has also hosted a PKL kickboxing event at O’Ree Place.

It came to the surprise of many on Wednesday of last week when L-Jack Promotions Inc. sent the following message to their fans on Facebook:

L-Jack Promotions Inc. sent out the above message to their fans last week via Facebook (Photo Via: L-Jack Promotions Inc. Facebook)

 

Sitting down for an interview with Fight Night Picks’ Craig Allen, Brewer explained the situation that occurred at the second L-Jack Promotions Inc. event.

“October 21, 2017, so it would have been a year ago almost we had our very first MMA event at the Aitken Centre” said Brewer. “We had some issues in the crowd, we had a couple little tifs, and nobody got hurt, everything was fine.”

“And then after that show I met with the city, met with the Fredericton police and they were just, you know, obviously concerned and wanted to make sure it didn’t happen again, as I was as well. The number one thing is the safety of everybody in the cage. Outside of the cage it doesn’t matter because it’s a family environment.”

“So we made some changes and whatnot to the set-up, to the bag checks, to the security and this and that. Then I went to book another date for the spring time at the Aitken Centre and David Saad (facilities director at UNB) said, ‘Yeah UNB’s maybe not really, yeah you know, we’re going to put it on hold for now.'”

University of New Brunswick’s Aitken Centre has hosted combat sports events in the past, but has ruled against the return of future events due to the October 21, 2017 incident that occurred on campus (Photo Credit: Craig Allen)

 

In the aftermath of what occurred at the event last October, L-Jack Promotions Inc. held another event at the municipally owned Grant-Harvey Centre on April 28, 2018.

“We went ahead and did another show at the Grant Harvey Centre,” said Brewer. “Everything went fine, the changes that we made worked and everybody had a great night.”

“I continued to try to meet with UNB, Dave said they don’t want to talk, and finally they said they we’re just saying no to combat sports. I figured that it was a small enough issue, cause at the time we had done seven shows, multiple charity events. Never had any issues, everybody always walks away saying, ‘Wow, that’s amazing.'”

When reaching out for a comment from the university as to how the decision to ban all combat sports on campus was reached, UNB spokesperson Natasha Ashfield issued the following statement via email.

“The Aitken Centre bookings are managed by the director of kinesiology facilities; however, UNB administration reserves the right to review requests for booking space on our campuses on a case by case basis. We take many things into account, such as scheduling, staffing, potential revenue stream, nature of the event and past experiences with similar events. The safety and security of our staff, students and participants is always at the core of our decisions.“

The university was non-committal about how the decision that was reached, and would not expand on their response.

Public Information Officer Alycia Bartlett of the Fredericton Police Force was reached for comment and responded via email.

“Public safety is only one of the criteria that staff consider

a. Mr. Brewer would go through a special events applications process to use a City facility; no different than other events using City facilities.

b. Public safety is one of the criteria which staff look at.

c. In that regard, considerations include the nature of the event, the location being used, the hours of the event, the age of the crowd expected, the number of ppl expected, whether alcohol will be served or not, and past experience with similar events.

d. From that, and for a past combat sports event in the city, Fredericton Police reccomended that seven off duty police officers be present.

e. April believes the cost for an off duty officer right now is $85 / hour.“

The Grant-Harvey Centre has served as a venue for multiple combat sports events in Fredericton (Photo Credit: Craig Allen)

 

For Brewer, the need to hire a total of seven off-duty officers in addition to an outside security company looking after the event is overwhelming.

“Because the NB Combat Sports (Commission) has their rules and regulations, we have to have a licensed security company that costs three to four thousand dollars as well,” said Brewer.

“It has to make business sense, and with those numbers (due to) security it doesn’t make much business sense.”

With the UFC set to make their debut in Moncton on Oct. 27, and promotions such as Fighting Alliance and Elite1 MMA also holding shows in the province this year, Brewer’s hopeful that he’ll be able continue bringing combat sports back to the City of Fredericton.

“People want them, so let’s do what we have to do to make it happen,” said Brewer.