On Friday, as part of the recognition process for MMA in France, the Ministry of Sports held a press conference alongside the French Boxing Federation to confirm that they will be the federation entrusted with development of MMA in France. UFC is delighted with this major step for the development of MMA in France.
Lawrence Epstein, UFC Senior Executive Vice-President & COO, stated, “We are very pleased the Minister of Sport, Roxana Maracineanu, has taken this crucial step in the recognition of MMA in France. France is a leader in sport and a trend setter for the rest of the world. Although the recognition process for MMA still involves several stages, we’re excited about the prospects for eventually bringing a live UFC event to France, and we would like to thank all parties who have been involved in the process to regulate our sport. We’re also looking forward to collaborating with the French Boxing Federation (FFB), with which MMA shares many values and a sport we already have such close ties to in the U.S., to help develop MMA in France.”
Following an announcement to regulate MMA in France by the Ministry of Sports in September 2019, a tender was launched to decide which federation would develop the sport if it were to be officially recognised. The federations who applied included: FSGT (The Sports and Gymnastics Federation), FFKMDA (Kick Boxing, Muay Thai, Pancrase), Wrestling, Karate Savate and French Boxing. The Sports Ministry enlisted a board of independent consultants to provide their advice on the decision. Roxana Maracineau declared that the French Boxing Federation would be the most suitable federation to house MMA, the CNOSF (The French National Olympic and Sports Committee) was consulted on this decision.
UFC will closely follow the next steps of the recognition process.
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