Tsuut'ina makes international headlines linked to possible Jake Paul fight

The Tsuut'ina Nation just west of Calgary is at the centre of a major sports story involving a YouTube star, boxer Jake Paul, and former UFC legend Michael Bisping.

The First Nation made headlines in the sports pages of UK tabloids and around the world this week as Paul and Bisping escalated a long-running war of words on social media, teasing a possible fight between the pair that could happen in Alberta.

Bisping, 43, is one of the latest retired MMA stars on 25-year-old Paul's hit list, which started with fellow YouTubers and NBA players.

Paul has now gone pro, fighting and calling out UFC stars and long-retired boxing legends.

Paul's pay-per-view fights are a spectacle, drawing millions of viewers around the world and millions of dollars. They have fight fans divided, some refusing to recognize Paul's credentials as a pro boxer given the short amount time he has spent in the sport.

"If you can get licensed, I would love to fight you," said Paul, calling out Bisping in a recent YouTube video. That fight could earn Bisping $1M plus an additional PPV bonus.

The problem is Bisping is blind in one eye, something he managed to hide from officials at the back end of his UFC career. He also has serious knee issues. Those problems make getting cleared to fight by any American athletic commission near impossible.

That's where the Tsuut'ina Nation comes in.

The Tsuut'ina Combative Commission is the first athletic licensing commission in Canada run by a First Nation. That makes it one of a few places in the world able to grant Bisping the permit he needs to make the fight happen.

The Tsuut'ina Nation also has a venue, the Seven Chiefs Sportsplex & Jim Starlight Centre, which has previously held fight events, albeit on a much