Today's announcement that the provincial government of Ontario, Canada, has approved the regulation of mixed martial arts was a thrill to tens of thousands of Canadian fans of the sport.

But even the enthusiasm of those rabid supporters might be overshadowed by the joy felt by UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner, who played a seminal role in the approval of the new legislation.

"This has been almost a three-year gestation period," Ratner today told MMAjunkie.com. "We've been going up to Toronto a lot. We're very, very excited.

"We're thrilled. The market is so huge there. It's the epicenter of MMA in Canada, and this is just a great development for us."

Today's announcement appeared to be a bit of an about-face for Ontario after Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty in February infamously proclaimed that mixed martial arts regulation was "just not a priority." But Ratner suggest McGuinty's comments may have been slightly misconstrued.

"If it had been a priority with the Premier, that would have meant his priorities would have been out of whack," Ratner said. "We knew that he was never really against it. He just said, 'Hey, when it's time, it's time.'"

And that time is finally now.

After near-three year struggle, UFC's Ratner "very, very excited" for Toronto debu