Hexagone MMA targets European expansion after rapid rise in France

Hexagone MMA is eyeing European expansion after success in France. | 📷: Edward Berthelot/Getty Hexagone MMA has set its ambitions high for the coming years. Founded in 2021 by brothers Jerome and Laurent Pourrut, Hexagone MMA has quickly established itself as one of the main mixed martial arts promotions in France. To date, the France-based organization has held 49 events and overseen roughly 326 bouts. While speaking with Sherdog.com, Hexagone co-founder Jerome Pourrut discussed the origins of the successful French promotion, its plans for the coming years, the challenges facing MMA in France, the news of a single investment fund taking over two rival organizations, Ares Fighting Championship and Hexagone, the up-and-coming faces of the local scene, and more. How Hexagone MMA became one of France’s fastest-growing promotions Pourrut's passion for MMA long predates Hexagone. He previously ran a company that distributed TV rights not only for MMA, but also for other combat sports and professional wrestling. That's when he approached Cage Rage, the British promotion that featured many MMA pioneers, including future Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholders Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort and Michael Bisping, among many others who competed under the British banner. At its peak, Cage Rage was England's top league, filling Wembley. The passion it sparked lit the flame that would eventually become Hexagone. "I've been working around MMA for an extremely long time, since 2005, with my brother,” Pourrut told Sherdog. “We told ourselves that as soon as MMA got legalized, we'd set up a league here in France. There were attempts to legalize MMA in 2010, then in 2016, before finally reaching legalization in 2020. But in 2020, there was Covid-19, so we waited until 2021 to launch Hexagone. The name isn't a reference to the fighting surface, but rather to France. They say France is a hexagonal country. Our idea was to bring MMA to the six corners of the Hexagon. You can see it clearly today: we went to Lille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Aix, Lyon, Strasbourg, and of course Paris, and we're going to Toulouse. So if you look at the shape of France, we went absolutely everywhere. It's true that MMA, or combat sports in general, have always been centered on Paris. And our will, precisely, was to bring this magnificent sport everywhere in France.” Hexagone MMA sets sights on European expansion after French success It's clear Hexagone's ambition goes beyond national borders. Since 2021, the French promotion has also hosted events in the United Arab Emirates, Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary and Belgium. The strategy, apparently, is to expand across Europe over the next few years. While Pourrut prefers to keep most of the names of the new countries under wraps, the list looks set to grow in 2027, adding countries like Switzerland and Spain. "We're very strong in France, but we also have a fully international broadcast across 150 countries, with partners, broadcasters, and very strong TV networks in certain countries. And in those countries where we're extremely strong, we'll choose to go there in 2027. I won't name them all, because I prefer to announce them officially. But right now, for example, what I can tell you is that in Germany we have very strong broadcasters, Bild and Dazn. We've already been to Hungary, so our wish is, of course, to go back with Arena 4, our broadcaster there. In Serbia, we also have TV Arena, which is extremely strong, extremely powerful. We want to go to Switzerland. We'd also like to take a little tour over to Spain. So our vision is that by 2028, we'll be a predominant player on the European MMA scale. We operate with a logic of both identification and a will always to aim higher. We were a bit of the underdog of MMA in France. Today, I reckon we're number one by the number of shows we produce per year and by the number of spectators we draw into our arenas. That's to say we fill an arena to the tune of 12,000 people in a single venue. We're on figures comparable to the biggest international and European leagues. So we're working to go in that direction. Our latest event, Hexagone MMA 45, had 137 million views across our Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok alone. We have all the metrics indicating this push of Hexagone across French territory, which we want to replicate on a European scale."Hexagone MMA and Ares FC share ownership but remain rivals Investment fund Slam now controls the two major MMA promotions in France, Ares and Hexagone. For the moment, the two will continue operating as separate entities. Pourrut confirmed there is no intention for them to merge, at least not on his end. At the same time, Ares and Hexagone are competing for the same market. "It's not a merger at all; it has nothing to do with that,” Pourrut stated. “Ares stays Ares, Hexagone stays Hexagone. The difference is the investment fund Slam, which took a 51% stake in Hexagone MMA. The leadership, the people, remain the same inside Hexagone MMA. Our will remains the same. Ares remains Hexagone MMA's competitor. We have no interest in playing it as a group. I have no interest, and I'm one of the shareholders of Hexagone MMA. We just share the investment fund Slam, but each company and each league has its own vision. Ares is much more centered on Paris. We go everywhere in France; we go abroad. So it's two completely different identities, totally different teams. Think of a football, rugby, or basketball club. Yes, there are common investors, but the leagues follow two quite distinct trajectories.”How UFC France and MMA legalization changed the sport’s landscape The local MMA scene has changed since Jan. 1, 2020, the day of MMA's legalization in France, but most importantly since the UFC held its first event on French soil in 2022. Since then, the Nevada-based promotion has run three more events, with another coming this year on Sept. 5, when highly touted French prospect Salahdine Parnasse makes his promotional debut against Dan Hooker. Of course, the fact that Ciryl Gane has captured the interim UFC heavyweight championship on two separate occasions has also helped the movement significantly. "MMA has been legalized since 2020, so we're only in the sixth year of our sport's legalization. Because it's true we won't count 2020, with the coronavirus. And today, when you look at the figures for MMA, they're exceptional. Here I'm not talking about Hexagone MMA, I'm talking about the sport. We're talking about a sport that's able to hold events thanks to the UFC. It is a very fine thing to see the UFC in France, because it validates France as, let's say, a stronghold of MMA. But above all, it's since the UFC came to France that the topic shifted from a sport for the curious asking ’why is there a cage, can you do anything in a cage, are there no rules?’, to a sport that has been legitimized. Now, where France needs to make an effort, I think, is to keep structuring our sport, to keep making sure more and more young people sign up at MMA clubs, and that there are more and more clubs available everywhere in France. And there you go: it's difficult, long work.”French MMA prepares for a new era with an independent federation Today, the French boxing commission oversees MMA. Pourrut is also part of the MMA commission, and he sounded pleased that next year it will detach from the boxing administration. While it's too early to say what will change at the local level, or whether the split will bring more funding for MMA, some things will surely change in 2027. "The French federation will become independent at the end of the year. So that too is extremely important. Things are going to change, and I hope this will allow MMA's development to continue in the right direction, to structure the amateurs and the clubs, and also allow the French leagues to develop and stand side by side with the federation. So that's work that has to be accomplished. Our federation needs more financial and human resources. Because it's true we belong to another federation, but we also need independence to be able to make certain decisions. So that, I think, is an extremely important point in the development of our sport." Hexagone was supposed to return on Aug. 7, but the card was canceled due to the heatwave currently afflicting Europe. The show was to be headlined by a 155-pound title fight between Wilson Varela and Damien Lapilus. The event was set to be held outdoors at the historic Roman Theatre of Orange, but with conditions like these, it wouldn't have been safe for the spectators or the athletes. "I'm extremely disappointed to have canceled the event at the Roman Theatre of Orange because we'd already used the location four times. Last year, we were under an orange heatwave alert, and we were forced to buy water bottles for every spectator. We learned that three hours before the show. If we didn't have the famous 3,000 or 4,000 bottles, we couldn't let people in. We can't produce an event, tell the fighters to prepare, work for months and months of preparation, only to be told on the day itself that it's too hot and we can't do the show. We were supposed to produce only a televised show in September, so instead of one, we're producing two, to rebalance the number of shows we have to put on. The heatwave in France today forced us to make adjustments. As we speak, it's funny you ask, because I was looking at the weather forecast. On the day we were supposed to do the show, 38 degrees (100°F) is already forecast, knowing that the federation requires the maximum temperature inside the cage to be below 30 degrees (86°F).” At the moment, there's no official news on whether the card will be rescheduled, but the promoter intends to make the Varela-Lapilus clash happen. At the same time, Pourrut is already looking for the next face of French MMA. The movement has produced plenty of talent, and more are in the pipeline, especially those already competing in the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation. "It's in our DNA to spot the French gems of MMA. You see, we recruited the likes of Oualy Tandia, Paul Denis Navero a.k.a. Paul Dena, Samba Sima, Mathilde Aschenbrenner, or Oceane Samson. It's in our DNA to have a league that can create the future stars of MMA in France, who might be stars a few years from now in the UFC; I hope for them. So yes, of course, we work hard on recruitment, on scouting. We're going to announce, before long, quite a few nice signings of young French fighters who notably performed at the IMMAF."Hexagone MMA’s goal: become a European MMA success story The English-speaking public can catch Hexagone events on Dazn. Pourrut ended by stating his hope to ensure MMA continues to grow in France and is viewed as a legitimate sport. "Beyond Hexagone MMA, I want to present MMA first and foremost as a sport. We're not a business as such, in fact. When we present fights, we present the discipline. I'm a lover of the discipline. And what I want to say is that, beyond the number of leagues being created here and there, the idea is to be the finest ambassador of our sport. In just six years, we've produced 45 events. Hexagone MMA is one of the finest current success stories, for me, in European MMA. Just look at the number of shows: we've produced more than 10 this year already. We're in territory few leagues can claim, being able to say we've done more than 10 events in a single year. So we're driven by this will to build ourselves up little by little. As you said, you came for the second event, and you've seen the whole path we've traveled, all the growth we've had. We wanted to build our success in France step by step. And in the long run, we're going to build a real European success.” This interview was conducted in French and translated into English by the author.