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MMA: "A total success", the Zenith of Paris vibrated, four months after the box of the UFC in Bercy

2023-01-23T15:14:09.669Z


Hexagone MMA 6 brought together nearly 3,000 spectators at the Zenith in Paris. The organizers of the event reveal their recipe for attracting t


The MMA landscape is not limited to the UFC, its stars, its plump bonuses.

The American league attracted 16,000 spectators to the Accor Arena at the start of September, but the French public still has an appetite for new championships.

This Sunday, nearly 3,000 people gathered at the Zénith de Paris to attend the sixth meeting orchestrated by Hexagone MMA.

“It's a total success, welcomes Jérôme Pourrut, president of the French organization.

This is a record for us.

This shows that we are aiming straight.

Mixed martial arts can therefore seduce beyond the high-sounding names of Cyril Gane or Francis Ngannou.

“Part of the public is already educated in MMA, and can understand the difference with the level of the UFC, but a new public has come since legalization, confirms Mathieu Nicourt, responsible for establishing the map of fighters.

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In France, the discipline was only legalized in 2020. According to Nicourt, the popularization of the sport goes through exposure on recognized stages.

"Big halls like the Zénith will help bring in the general public," he says.

We also did everything in terms of means and opposition of styles between the fighters to please the spectators.

»

If he spotted known MMA faces, Pourrut also noted the presence of many families, teenagers, “new spectators who have an appetite for this sport”.

“We observe what the Americans are doing, specifies the president of Hexagone MMA.

On the sporting level and on the scenographic level, our objective is that people who do not know have a good evening.

»

“100% confidence in the French market”

Although there are still some "clichés to bury" and "there are still many steps to cross before MMA becomes mainstream", Pourrut has "100% confidence in the French market".

Paris attracts French and foreign organizations but an organization like Hexagone MMA seeks to spread the sport to the six corners of France.

The organization also brought together the French MMA family for the occasion, from Benoît Saint-Denis to Manon Fiorot.

"It's a big show, there are three women's fights, I wanted to see that," slips the one who is ranked number 1 in the UFC.

Main guest of the evening, the best French fighter is delighted with the emergence of this type of meeting.

“I am thinking of the new fighters at my club, in Nice.

Being able to fight in France is a chance.

Me, I had to make my first fight abroad.

The more the French can fight, the higher the level will rise.

»

Founder of the

Free Fight Academy

, based in Paris and Vitry-sur-Seine, Nicourt notices "a diversification" of practitioners.

“Before, they came from working-class backgrounds, but the audience is hugely diverse, I have a lot of students.

This new craze at the base of the pyramid could help break the ceiling of MMA.

“We seek to create stars, to highlight our fighters, explains Pourrut.

MMA will exist once there are local stars, like Cyril Gane.

The objective will be to keep them and that they do not leave for the UFC.

»

Sunday, the only hiccup of the evening also concerned an ex-combatant of the major league of MMA.

Too heavy, Chris Fishgold did not show up at the official weigh-in: fight cancelled.

Pourrut will recover, he had other opportunities to shiver at the Zenith: “I sometimes felt like I was in a football stadium.

With each French victory, something happened in the crowd.

»

Source: leparis

All sports articles on 2023-01-23

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