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On Thursdays, Administrative Editor Jordan Breen welcomes a member of the mixed martial arts media into “Press Row” on the Sherdog.com blog. This week, Breen is joined by The Fight Network’s John Pollock.

We are still just over two weeks away from UFC 217 and Georges St. Pierre’s historical return to the Octagon. Breen and Pollock break down the past conditions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship that helped make St. Pierre a star, how they have changed and why “Rush” seems out of place in the modern UFC era. The two look at Canada’s unique cultural identity, the country’s immigration and changing demography over the last 30 years and how those factors have both helped and hurt sports properties like the UFC in Canadian mass culture.

Breen and Pollock also investigate whether or not Canada has fallen off in terms of producing elite fighting talent, why GSP is a unique outlier and how the UFC’s swollen roster and international schedule reveal past romanticizing of the “Great White North’s” importance to the UFC product.

Grab your credential and get a seat in “Press Row.”

The above file can be saved in MP3 format here.

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