The last major country to have brought the discipline out of hiding, France is suddenly placed at the center of the MMA planet with this confrontation between two fighters trained at the MMA Factory, a Parisian club founded in 2012 by Fernand Lopez. A radical evolution while mixed martial arts had a bad reputation there for a long time despite a large number of fans.
The tide began to turn from January 2020 and the delegation granted to the French Boxing Federation to organize MMA. Since then, the first licenses have been signed (less than 8,000 in 120 clubs, according to FFBoxe) and parties are held regularly under the aegis of various private promoters, pending the long-awaited arrival of the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship).
France, high development potential for MMA
The Gane-Ngannou duel, Sunday in Anaheim (California), is therefore only the culmination of the process of normalization of this sport in France.
“We talk about this fight as we talk about big boxing fights and no longer as if it were a bizarre phenomenon for barbarians in a cage”, welcomes Bertrand Amoussou, one of the pioneers of the discipline in France and member of the Board of the International MMA Federation (IMMAF).
The UFC made no mistake about it and is carefully scrutinizing the development of the tricolor market. The all-powerful American league, which has not yet mounted events in France, intends to finally land there this year after being overtaken by its competitor Bellator in October 2020.
“There’s no doubt that this fight is going to be an opportunity to expand the fan base,” said UFC General Manager Lawrence Epstein. “France is already a very important country, we see it through our television audiences and it is the second most important country in Europe on Facebook, with almost 550,000 fans. The growth is very fast and there is no doubt that this weekend will accelerate it. We are hopeful that 2022 will be the year we organize a party in France. »
But before the UFC armada makes a detour to France, the discipline is trying to exist, somehow. Several organizations like Ares or Hexagone MMA have embarked on the adventure but the number of fighters who can live from their passion remains derisory: barely twenty, according to FFBoxe.
“We still have a hard time finding our way around”
For Fernand Lopez, who has created his own league (Ares Fighting Championship) and plans one evening per month in 2022, “there is still everything to do. »
“It’s still hard to find our way around,” adds Ciryl Gane’s coach. “Even if this sport is gradually becoming mainstream, televisions are quite cautious and the economic model of sports promotion only makes sense if there is a television contract. Counting only on ticketing, it’s random. »
In terms of mass practice (about 50,000 people), the work is just as imposing.
“Our accreditation runs until 2022”
“It’s complicated to go from a free and open system for 20 years to something that is framed by diplomas, standards and a legal framework,” says Lionel Brézéphin, in charge of structuring MMA at FFBoxe. “The real development of the practice will come when people take licenses. »
For Bertrand Amoussou, “we must go towards the promotion of educational MMA, the challenge is there”. “For people, MMA is the UFC, but it’s not just that, it’s also educational practice like you can do judo, karate or boxing. We are very late. »
The solution will perhaps go through total independence vis-à-vis the FFBoxe, as the main players in the discipline wish.
“The structure is practically guaranteed. The objective is to enable practitioners tomorrow to have their own autonomous federation. Our approval runs until 2022. We will then see what the State decides,” Dominique Nato, president of the Federation, recently told News Tank.