Bellator will hold an event in Paris, France
on Oct. 10, multiple sources say.This will mark the first major MMA event ever in France. MMA was
finally recognized as a legal sport in France earlier this
year.— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
September 11, 2020
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here and live stream 100+ fight nights a year. Editor’s note: The article has been updated at 11:50
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organization.
Bellator
MMA is blazing a new path never traveled by any major MMA
promotion.
On Thursday night, ESPN
announced that the organization based out of California would be
putting on a
card on Oct. 10. The card now has two fights scheduled:
Cheick
Kongo (30-10-2, 1 NC) against Tim
Johnson (14-6) at heavyweight, and Michael
Page (17-1) taking on Ross
Houston (8-0, 1 NC) in the welterweight division. The card is
scheduled to take place at the Accor Arena in Paris, and a limited
number of fans will be allowed to attend. According to Bellator, at
least nine other French fighters will appear on the card besides
Kongo. Should this event stay intact, it would be the first in
major MMA history to be held in the European country. The sport was
legalized at the beginning of 2020 in France, and Bellator will be
the first to plant its flag.
This is not the first uncharted territory that Bellator has
approached before other organizations like the
Ultimate Fighting Championship. The promotion has put on
multiple cards in Israel over the years. Additionally, Bellators
212 and 213 took place in Honolulu at the end of 2018, and the
company helmed by Scott Coker returned the following year in
December. Coker will be hosting a brief press conference on Friday,
and this news could be confirmed as part of his “special
announcement.”
The transition to France would follow a reported stretch of four
fight cards in Milan, Italy, over the span of less than two weeks,
according to sources for Sherdog.com. An event previously scheduled
for Dublin on
Oct. 3 has become the fourth of those Milan shows, and it is
unclear if the headliner of Patricky
Freire vs. Peter
Queally will remain atop that relocated event. The following
week, Bellator would head to France for the first time ever.