MMA coach and gym owner Fernand Lopez has played a pivotal role in the growth of MMA in France and Africa. Now Francis Ngannou’s head coach wants to take that development to new levels with his own promotion.
Lopez is the owner of the Paris-based MMA Factory gym and the sporting director of newly-established MMA promotion Ares FC, which has signed notable talent from Europe and Africa, as well as free-agent acquisitions from North America.
Speaking to MMA Junkie, Lopez discussed his goals for the Afro-French promotion, which held its inaugural event in Senegal in December 2019.
“The concept of Ares is just something new,” he explained. “We really know how this market is hard, this business is so tough. It’s not easy to come there, there’s so many shows who come out there and throw money out the window and then after two, three shows, just stop everything. We have the opportunity to have Vivendi (a Paris-based mass media conglomerate) backing up everything and then pushing Ares, and Ares is coming to bring the quality of broadcast.”
Ares FC 1 aired live on UFC Fight Pass and featured the likes of Senegalese heavyweight sensation Oumar Kane – best known by his nickname, “Reug Reug” – Dagestani prospect Nassourdine Imavov, and one of France’s best fighters Taylor Lapilus. Since their first show, the promotion has signed former UFC fighters Juan Adams, John Moraga, Wilson Reis and Nordine Taleb, as Lopez has built a roster with a healthy mix of emerging talent and veteran names from the world stage.
“If there are people out there who didn’t see the show, they can still catch up on the UFC Fight Pass library,” Lopez said. “There’s a lot of things that we can improve, for sure. But for the first show, that was a lot in terms of production, in terms of the quality of fighter. We had a lot of prospects that should go to the UFC (and) a lot of UFC veterans that were there.
For Lopez, the aim is to shine a light on the fighting talent from France and Africa in particular, with both nations becoming emerging MMA nations on the global stage.
“We’re just trying to bring a good show in Africa, in France, in Europe, and then bring a lot of good quality content, and opportunities to give to the fighters.”
The coronavirus outbreak forced Ares FC to postpone their second show to October 30, but Lopez is confident in the promotion’s future.
“I really think that, in the next two years, we’re going to learn, we’re going to evolve, we’re going to lose money, we’re going to struggle,” he said. “But, at the end of the day, we will become (one of) the top major promotions around the world.”
