The fans in Paris made a strong impression at the Ultimate Fighting
Championship’s second event in France on Saturday.
The Accor Arena was rocking from the card’s opening fight, all the
way until Ciryl Gane
dispatched Sergey
Spivak in the
UFC Fight Night 226 heavyweight headliner. The numerous French
fighters on the card drew loud ovations and brought a palpable
energy to the audience — something that was noticeable to UFC
officials.
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“That felt louder than last year,” said UFC senior vice president
for international operations and content David Shaw at
Saturday’s post-fight press conference.
“Last year our feeling was it’s first time in market, we worked so
hard to get legalization in France. First time effect — great,” he
added. “The event was a huge success. Coming here tonight and
having the performance all the athletes put on and the performance
also of the fans, it kind of validated what the thesis was from the
very beginning, which is we make a commitment to France, the number
of athletes is going to increase, the number of partnerships is
going to increase, the attention around building mixed martial arts
in the country is going to increase, and that played out tonight
right in front of our eyes.”
While the long process to get MMA legalized in France certainly
helped build enthusiasm for the UFC’s arrival the past two years,
Shaw points out that the country also has a solid foundation of
martial arts.
“The pent up demand is one major contributor to the overall
success,” Shaw said. “There’s also a long history of martial arts
in this country and the power of judo, karate, wrestling and boxing
for so long. Our sport is one for a much younger demographic. I
think this entry of MMA into France was a long time coming but
something that has a discernable connection to the community in a
lot of ways across the country. With the quality of athletes we saw
tonight, it’s not surprising it made such an impact.”
With that in mind, it appears that the Las Vegas-based promotion
would like to make Paris a regular stop on its annual itinerary.
Shaw admits that the 2024 Olympics in Paris will make that plan
more challenging next year.
“We said it for many years as we were going through the
legalization process that this is a destination we want to be in
every year,” Shaw said. “… Next year it’s going to be a different
puzzle but absolutely it’s top of the list for us to come here
every year.”
The turnout and energy at UFC Fight Night 226 could also create
openings for more events in other French cities, Shaw said.
“We’ve had a lot of conversations about the other destinations that
we could go. If we’re able to increase the output to France by more
than just one event…there are a few different cities that we would
consider,” he said. “But no decisions yet. We’ve talked about that
a lot this week.”