WITH FRANCE set to legalize mixed martial arts next year, Brave Combat Federation said staging events there is now a “possibility.”
“The legalization of MMA in France is great news for everyone. I always believed in the importance of Europe as a whole in making mixed martial arts a truly global sport and France legalizing it is a big step forward for France as well as for the sport of MMA. France has been on our radar for some time and it’s nice to know a huge avenue has opened up for the development of MMA in Europe,” said Brave president Mohammed Shahid in a statement.
His statement came on the heels of the news early this week that France is forming a committee to oversee the legalization of MMA in the country and is expected to become official, reports said, by Jan. 1, 2020.
The plan was announced by minister of sport Roxana Maracineanu.
Bahrain-based Brave currently is home to some of the best French MMA fighters, including reigning Brave welterweight world champion Abdoul Abdouraguimov.
Apart from Mr. Abdouraguimov, fighters out of France in Brave are Mehdi Baghdad, David Bear and Tahar Hadbi.
Also part of the Brave champions’ roll is Filipino Stephen “The Sniper” Loman, who is the promotion’s world bantamweight champion. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
