"I never lose. Either I win or I learn. His favorite formula snaps like an uppercut. It must be said that the boxer Zarah Fairn Dos Santos was inspired by Nelson Mandela and Mohammed Ali. In her own way, the daughter of a Brazilian and a Moroccan also entered the history of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) by becoming last October the first French woman to fight in UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), the powerful league American professional. A remarkable entry despite a defeat (by submission) against the Australian Megan Anderson. At 33, the one who grew up on Place des Fêtes in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, surrounded by five brothers (including Joao, a former professional basketball player), has already had several lives.
Dance, and more precisely street dance, first led her on TV sets (“Hit Machine” “Sacrée Soirée”) then on certain musical tours by MC Solaar, Ophélie Winter or Assia where she won her first seals. But the big shows went out of fashion and Zarah left the stage to enter the ring. Almost by chance. “I had a feeling of failure with stopping the dance and I needed an activity that boosts me, confides the person concerned.
Six months in Sweden with 0 euro in your pocket
During a vacation in Turkey, I got to know Brice Faradji (Editor's note: world and French welterweight champion) , who introduced me to the basics. The first day, he said to me: You see the mountain over there, it's 2 am, come with me. We started to run, I cried, vomited twice, but I got up there and he said to me: that's it, boxing, that's it. Trials, take shots, but you have to accept it to climb the heights… ”
On her return to Paris, on the advice of Baradji, she opens the door to the Boxing Beats d'Aubervilliers led by Saïd Bennajem. "Hello, I want to be a champion! », She lets go before putting on the gloves with Sarah Ourahmoune and Lucie Bertaud, the students of Bennajem already sacred in their category. "Lucie put a beating on me ... A real submachine gun, I didn't understand anything," recalls Zarah, who will nonetheless enter the field of boxing career. The neophyte with an impressive size (1.76 m, 74 kg) progresses quickly, too fast for the others. "Every time I hit it fell. They were running away from me, they were afraid of me. I went into the shadows thanks to my knockouts (sic) and the curtain closed… "
In the absence of an adversary, she turned to MMA where, there too, the scholarships were difficult to win. Her first stamp, 900 euros, won in Poland, she offers to her opponent whom she sent to the hospital. "I destroyed it, it looked like Elephant Woman, it hurt me. I gave her my purse because she was fighting to feed her family. The featherweight (-66 kg) takes risks when descending from category and decides to go abroad to become more experienced. “I admired the Swedish Alexander Gustavsson (pro at the UFC) and I left for Stockholm in his club. I came for a week, I stayed six months ... There were only guys, Chechens, Egyptians. They taught me their culture. I had 0 euros in my pocket ... The club housed me, fed me. "
"After so many knockouts in the shadows ..."
A Masters in social education and sport and a license in sports law in her pocket, she decided upon her return to open her MMA and fitness room in Ambérieu-en-Bugey, near Lyon. Before the UFC, its declared objective, finally knocks on its door. If successful on the night of Saturday to Sunday, against the Canadian Felicia Spencer, her purse is estimated at 10,000 euros. The price of sacrifices.
“This sport pushed me to grow, to manage on my own abroad. I speak five languages. My mother was a cleaning lady, but she always fought. I didn't miss anything. The process of life are stages, and I have never given up. After so many knockouts in the shadows, it's normal to be in the light today. I believe in destiny. "
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A pioneer in her sport, the one who modestly admits to having had "complicated" experiences as a young black girl thanks Minister of Sports Roxana Maracineanu for having worked to legalize MMA in France. “I had arrested her on social networks, reveals Farah. Today, I salute his courage. She was the only woman at the negotiating table and she got our message across. "
