The battle for fully regulated, modern MMA in France has been a long and grueling one. While the country has hosted mixed martial arts fights in various forms since the 90s, back in 2015 France held it’s first event under the modern ‘unified rules’ of MMA. World Warriors Fighting Championship exploited what they called “a loophole” in the country’s regulatory process that had otherwise kept similar events from going forward. Government reaction, along with lots of apparent pressure from the French Judo Federation, was swift.
In 2016, the country reinforced and strengthened it’s ban on mixed martial arts, dubbing the sport essentially outright illegal.