The country of France has finally legalized MMA and starting this year, MMA promotions can start running events in France.
Roxana Maracineanu, who is France?s Minister Of Sport, has tasked the French Boxing Commission to oversee the first phase of professional MMA in France.
?Having requested and analysed all relevant information received from a number of combat federations who were interested in welcoming MMA, we have decided, by an official Ministerial Decision, to delegate the sport of MMA to the French Boxing Federation,? the ministry stated in a press release (via MMA Junkie).
This is not a permanent partnership though, as the French Boxing Commission is only expected to oversee the sport for approximately two years.
Kerrith Brown of the IMMAF has been pushing for France to legalize the sport for awhile now and he is happy the French Boxing Commission will oversee everything.
?We are delighted to see that Boxing will now be the partner of MMA in France, where it has extremely well established and respected structures,? Brown said. ?Above all, we believe that by partnering with boxing, MMA will show that it shares a willingness to create the right culture and values, especially in membership and education programmes for athletes, coaches and officials.?
There is no word at this time as to when some of the major MMA organizations, such as the UFC or Bellator MMA, plan on running events in France.