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The Ministry for Sport in France recently announced that the sport of MMA is being legalized in the country and it deployed the responsibility of regulating the sport in its early stages on the French Boxing Federation until there is the formation of a dedicated MMA regulatory authority, post successful review by the Ministry.
Bellator president Scott Coker welcomed the move and promised to help in every way possible to get the sport established in France and also expressed the desire to bring Bellator events to the country in the near future. (h/t: MMAJunkie)
“Bellator welcomes France’s decision to move towards the regulation of professional MMA. We also welcome the decision of the Minister of Sports, Roxana Maracineanu, to make the French Boxing Federation (FFB) the governing body of professional MMA, and await with interest the upcoming opinion of the National Olympic Committee.”
“Given their successful and longstanding track-record with boxing, we believe the French Boxing Federation are well suited to oversee the sport and we will be pleased to work with them towards MMA’s continued growth, development, safety and regulation throughout the country,” he said. “We look forward to hosting Bellator events in France, bringing fans incredible shows featuring some of the best athletes in the world.”
Bellator has done a lot to expand and develop the sport in Europe in the recent years and the promotion has even launched a dedicated European Series. The promotion will host its seventh European Series show at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland on Feb. 22.
