France is a country that is a solid performer in the UFC. There are currently 10 fighters in the UFC, spread across eight different weight classes. What recent fans may not have realized was that it was just under six years ago when MMA became legal in the country. UFC Vegas 112’s Morgan Charriere looks back at the time leading up to legalization.
“The sport is growing so quickly here in France. When I started, there weren’t many people doing MMA. In France it wasn’t called MMA,” Charriere recalls. “It was called ‘free fight’ and then pancrase. We weren’t allowed to do a ground attack. We fought in a ring and not in an octagon, and things like that.”
Not only was it difficult for him to compete in the sport he wanted, but it was also difficult because the people in his country did not see what he was doing as legitimate. Instead, it seemed more like a hobby or something that went completely unrecognized.
“The sport was not recognized by the people. So we are not a real athlete for the French people. We had no support, no response,” Charriere said. “So there was no money.”
Even though there wasn’t really that much money involved – and it was a fragment of what the sport was globally – he was attracted to it. It was that love that kept him going and helped him get to where he is today.
“I always like to do difficult things. I’ve loved sports since a very young age and I love martial arts. I started doing martial arts because I like what I’ve seen in movies, things like that. So I just wanted to be able to do the same things,” he said. “So I just found MMA by chance, because France wasn’t even that big, and once I found it, I just fell in love with this sport. And I would just love to fight and fight against someone who wins or loses – I didn’t care. I just love the sport so much.”
And now that he is through that difficult time, he sees how big it has become in his country. Not only have they had an interim champion and a title challenger, but the fans of the sport believe in and support what they are doing. That respect from the grassroots has led to even more athletes coming through.
“In four years it’s been legal. The UFC came three times. The sport is maybe the third biggest sport in France. I think, in terms of people watching it when there’s the UFC, it’s probably the second sport, just after football, because football is so big here. But it’s growing so fast,” he explained. “There are so many high-level amateurs coming. They have a good regional circus. When I look at that, I think: that’s crazy.”
He will look to bring more hype to the country when he steps into the cage at UFC Vegas 112 this Saturday. He fights Melquizael Costa as part of the ESPN+ main card, with that portion of the fight card starting at 9:00 PM EST.
You can hear the full audio of this interview on the latest edition of the Top Turtle MMA Podcast. It airs at 9:55 PM.
#UFC #Vegas #112s #Morgan #Charriere #discusses #MMA #Coming #Age #France