Great premiere at the AccorHotelArena.
Two and a half years after the legalization of mixed martial arts (MMA) in France, pronounced in January 2020, the discipline will experience a new turning point with the first evening organized by the all-powerful UFC.
Accustomed to the American continent and more recently to the United Kingdom, the American league is packing its bags for the first time in France.
And intends to establish itself permanently in a country where MMA continues to grow, driven by the enthusiasm around its standard bearer Ciryl Gane, headliner of Saturday night's UFC Fight Night.
David Shaw, Vice-President of the UFC in charge of international relations, details in Le Figaro the reasons and the strategy for the arrival of the league in France.
LE FIGARO. - What can we expect this Saturday night with UFC Paris?
David Shaw.
-
To an exceptional evening.
We should have a full house
(15,000 spectators)
and we will surely break the box office sales record
(3.3 million dollars in box office receipts)
.
We are lucky to have the presence of a French athlete in the person of Ciryl Gane for the
main event
but also of four other French fighters for the first here on the territory.
I imagine it will have a huge impact on the future of MMA in France.
To what extent did the UFC weigh in the process of legalizing MMA in France?
It is the fruit of a lot of work for a dozen years and the first visits of Lawrence Epstein
(managing director of the UFC, editor's note)
.
We have worked to legalize sport in France by working hand in hand with the Ministry of Sports, the French Boxing Federation and then the MMA Federation.
We must also thank all our partners, starting with the broadcasters
(RMC Sport and La Chaîne L'Équipe)
and the international MMA federation.
Everyone has worked so hard to bring the UFC here.
And it is the apotheosis that awaits us today.
Read alsoMMA: France, new land of welcome
Now that the UFC has arrived in Paris, how can you still grow in France?
We are still far from the top.
We can still grow wherever we go, even in more established markets like the United States, Brazil, Canada or the United Kingdom.
In France, this is the first chapter of a great development on the local scene.
We are lucky to have ambassadors like Ciryl Gane or Benoît Saint-Denis to remind us that MMA can be considered today as a way of life and above all as a sport beneficial to health.
We are only at the beginning of our expansion.
We see France as a future stronghold for the UFC.
MMA will eventually get closer to football and rugby
David Shaw, UFC Vice President
Fernand Lopez says it's cool to have an MMA coach now. You agree ?
Of course, MMA benefits from a real benevolence which allows behind to found a real community.
In the United Kingdom as in Brazil, MMA has become part of the sporting and social decorum.
Here in France, we have a real culture of boxing, judo or ju-jitsu, but MMA is gaining ground.
And I have no doubt that MMA is going down a path that will eventually bring it closer to football and rugby, which have been around much longer than we have.
Tickets were gone in minutes. The French community is particularly enthusiastic…
As with every first event in a country, there is a huge impact.
For France, this week will have repercussions in the future.
It is our desire to make France a
hub
regular for the UFC, we plan to return every year.
France is a very buoyant market among our 4 million fans across the globe, this is confirmed by our presence on the networks, where France is the second largest market in terms of visibility.
This is thanks to our not global but territorialized approach in terms of content.
Here, the French public can identify more and more with the UFC because they not only want to know what is happening in the USA but also on their doorstep.
Read also“Make Dana understand that we are part of the MMA planet”, Gane is already doing the show at the UFC Paris weigh-in
Was it already planned to come to France before the popularity of Ciryl Gane?
Our goal has always been to reach France but we wanted to do it the right way.
As soon as the legalization of MMA was announced in January 2020, we did not want to arrive as early as the following week, we did not want to come just to come.
Then, of course, the Covid delayed us in our agenda.
We would have liked to come earlier but we made it a point of honor to come at the right time, with a good card of fighters.
We want to mark the occasion, make a good first impression.
We didn't need to be the first to organize an MMA event in France.
We were convinced that the other promotion leagues
(Bellator, Ares)
know how to satiate our public before our arrival.
Read alsoUFC Paris: “He would get real status in France”, says Fernand Lopez on Imavov
You mention a territorialized approach, but the UFC retains this American-style show dimension...
Our President Dana White is very keen on respecting the values and brand image of the UFC throughout the world.
On the other hand, in each city where we organize an event, we make sure to produce content adapted to its community.
This involves registering local fighters on the main maps but also by inviting speakers for the festivities preceding the event.
For example, we invited George St-Pierre, who met so many sports ministers with us to explain the values of MMA and the merits of our sport.
He had a crucial role in the legalization of the UFC in France and it is normal that he is invited here, just like Manon Fiorot and even Francis Ngannou.
We make every effort to ensure that the
You were in contact with Fernand Lopez and his organization Ares before the event. How do you view the rise of the French organization?
Ares is run by fully competent and involved people.
Our relationship with the league is important for several reasons, firstly because the UFC cannot be in France every month.
Having an organization that allows us to promote high-level fights when we are not there allows us to maintain and build the MMA community, which remains our ambition.
This also allows us to have privileged relationships with key players in the development of new talent.
Not all fighters go straight from their training room to the UFC, hence the importance of these promotional organizations.
The cream can then claim the top before winning contracts with us.
Do you plan to settle elsewhere in Europe?
Before the Covid, we visited Great Britain, Ireland but also Scandinavia, Germany and the Czech Republic.
We will do our best to continue to grow our brand and bring MMA to as many countries as possible.
We have good contracts with broadcasters in Europe and a solid base of fighters, it makes sense to continue to grow on the continent.
Europe is an integral part of our international development strategy.
