With big Ultimate Fighting Championship fights going on in glitzy places such as Las Vegas or large Canadian cities such as Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, there’s not much opportunity for area people to see a live UFC event unless they jump into a car or fly across the country.

So if people can’t make it to a UFC event, the UFC will come to them, as happened on Friday afternoon.

The Hayabusa Academy on Innovation Drive in Kingston’s east end was the host Friday of the UFC Experience Tour.

It was the second leg of a four-stop UFC tour across Canada this summer.

The tour included a stop in Lethbridge, Alta., in June and upcoming stops in Saint John, N.B., on Aug. 1 and Brandon, Man., over Labour Day weekend.

On Friday, a UFC Community Works session was held at the academy, which brought in UFC fighters to train and work with Special Olympics athletes.

Other events this weekend include a block party on Saturday at Confederation Park from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at which fans can get autographs from UFC fighters, take part in a question-and-answer session and watch mixed martial arts demonstrations.

To wind up the Kingston visit, the UFC will host a viewing party at the Boston Pizza restaurant at 371 Princess St. on Saturday evening to watch UFC 189 from Las Vegas.

The UFC brought in two up-and-coming Canadian fighters to Friday’s visit — lightweight Chad Laprise of Windsor and middleweight Elias Theodorou of Toronto.

Both fighters are currently undefeated, with 11-0 records.

Laprise, 28, a.k.a. The Disciple, is five-foot-10 and weighs 155 pounds and is described on the UFC website as a "well-rounded striker."

His last fight was a three-round unanimous decision at UFC 186 in April.

Theodorou, 27, nicknamed The Spartan, is six-foot-one and weighs 185 pounds.

In his last fight in March, in UFC 185, he knocked out his opponent in the second round.

Nine Special Olympics athletes attended the Community Works session on Friday — six power lifters from Belleville and three golfers and bowlers from Kingston.

"This tour is really about bringing the excitement of UFC to some of the smaller communities who may not see a live pay-per-view (event) or live Fight Night event in the next few years," said Caitlin Yan, manager, partnership activations for UFC Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

"We do recognize that there’s a lot of avid and passionate fans in communities right across Canada and we don’t think they should be left out or excluded."

As far as the UFC is concerned, an athlete is an athlete, no matter what the sport.

"We have very strong pillars in the UFC — training, respect, athleticism and discipline — and those are transferable to other sports," Yan said. "It doesn’t matter if you’re a five-pin bowler or a power lifter like some of these Special Olympics athletes do. We just want to have this opportunity that everyone is here and is excited about MMA and just teach and bring back to the community."

Stacey McKeown, district developer of eastern Ontario for Special Olympics, said the athletes were excited to be at the session.

"They are tickled pink. It’s the icing on the cake for them," she said.

"You can tell by the smiles on their faces they’re having a blast."

During the session, Laprise and Theodorou mixed with all of the athletes, showing them various MMA moves and fitness exercises.

Afterwards, the UFC fighters donned protective gear and did some fighting demonstrations with Haybusa Academy members.

"It’s very good for cross-training," McKeown said. "We have athletes in 18 different sports across the province, and general fitness is a great element in any sports that you’re competing in."

ian.macalpine@sunmedia.ca Twitter.com @IanMacAlpine