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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Farah Hannoun

Report: France’s planned January MMA legalization pushed back to later date

It appears MMA fans in France will have to wait a bit longer before an event comes to their home country.

After it was announced earlier this year that MMA in France will be legalized effective January, “Le Parisian” is reporting that the date has been postponed to at least February, if not longer.

The postponed date comes due to a delay in approval, which the Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français (France’s Olympic and Sports Committee) has to give the country’s minister of sport, Roxana Maracineanu.

The first announced MMA event in France is the Afro-French MMA promotion ARES Fighting Championship, which is scheduled to take place on March 21 in Paris. ARES FC is run by MMA Factory Paris head coach Fernand Lopez, who coaches the likes of UFC fighters Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane.

If the sport is not legalized by then, the event will have to find a new location.

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