The Western Australian government has passed a law that bans the use of a cage in MMA fights effective today, March 1."We just don't want to see cage fighting in Western Australia," said Premier Colin Barnett. "It's been a policy decision of the state government."
The government had been seeking to create the law since January and it was confirmed by the Minister for Sports, Terry Waldron, after the Department of Sports and Recreation commissioners spoke with promoters about the change.
The ruling was based on "image concerns" and not fighter safety.
Tom Wright, director of UFC operations, vowed to fight the ban and plans to bring the UFC to back to Australia in 2014.
Victoria is the other state in Australia that has banned fighting inside a cage.
Australia has hosted four UFC shows since 2010, with three out of Sydney and one from the Gold Coast.
Their last show out of the country was in December for UFC on FX. The main event saw the coaches of The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes headline as Ross Pearson took a TKO against George Sotiropoulos.
The government had been seeking to create the law since January and it was confirmed by the Minister for Sports, Terry Waldron, after the Department of Sports and Recreation commissioners spoke with promoters about the change.
The ruling was based on "image concerns" and not fighter safety.
Tom Wright, director of UFC operations, vowed to fight the ban and plans to bring the UFC to back to Australia in 2014.
Victoria is the other state in Australia that has banned fighting inside a cage.
Australia has hosted four UFC shows since 2010, with three out of Sydney and one from the Gold Coast.
Their last show out of the country was in December for UFC on FX. The main event saw the coaches of The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes headline as Ross Pearson took a TKO against George Sotiropoulos.