By Sam Laskaris
ALDERVILLE FIRST NATION – Thanks to an Anishinaabekwe, a bit of mixed martial arts history will be made in Belleville in March.
Irene Starr, a member of Alderville First Nation, is the owner of BTC Fight Promotions, which has been staging professional mixed martial arts events across Ontario since 2017.
The company’s 27th event, BTC XXVII: Bellevegas, scheduled for Mar. 15 in Belleville, will be historic.
That’s because it will mark the first time that amateur mixed martial artists will be allowed to legally fight in Ontario.
The Ontario Athletics Commission, which oversees combative sports in the province, had previously only allowed professional events to be sanctioned. As of Jan. 1, amateur events can also be staged in Ontario. The Belleville event will be pro-am, featuring both professional and amateur fighters.
“We’re making history,” Starr said. “We’re going down in the history books. Everybody is going to be watching this. It’s going to be livestreamed. So, we’re going to have to be on our toes and make sure we do everything right.”
BTC XXVII: Bellevegas will be held at the Belleville Armouries, a landmark in the city’s downtown.
Belleville Armouries is a federal heritage building, which is home to The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment Museum, showcasing the military heritage in the area.
The facility also hosts various community events.
Plenty of bouts are being planned for BTC XXVII: Bellevegas.
“We’re hoping for six amateur bouts and six professional bouts,” Starr said.
Starr is pleased the Ontario Athletics Commission is now sanctioning amateur events. That means some promoters no longer have to be secretive.
“Of course, [there were amateur events before],” Starr said. “There were some underground events. But if you got caught, they would blackball you.”
Starr said amateur mixed martial arts fighters from Ontario would previously have to travel out of province to take part in events, noting that Ontario fighters would travel to Quebec or either the states of New York or Michigan in order to compete in sanctioned events.
Starr operates BTC Fight Promotions out of Burlington. She said she knew that the Ontario Athletics Commission was planning to sanction events as of the start of this year for about six months.
She added that has led to an increase in the number of young amateur fighters who are registering with clubs throughout Ontario.
“Now that they can fight in their own province, the younger kids are showing up,” she said.
Several other mixed martial arts companies exist in the province.
“Everybody is going to try to do the pro-am or amateur events now,” Starr said.
Following the historic Belleville event, BTC Fight Promotions is planning to stage several other amateur events throughout the province in 2025.
For starters, the company is planning to host an event in Burlington in June and one in November in London.
Starr said she’s also hoping to have an event in September, either in Toronto or Niagara Falls.
More information and ticket prices for the Belleville event are available online.
