The UFC will make its debut in France late this summer.
For the first time, the octagon will touch down in Paris for UFC Fight Night on Sept. 3 at Accor Arena, the promotion announced Thursday. While no fights accompanied the announcement, it was previously reported that the UFC was finalizing a heavyweight bout between French former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane and Tai Tuivasa.
Tickets are expected to go on sale for the event June 24.
After a long political battle, MMA finally was legalized in France in 2020 after the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) gave its approval to the French Ministry of Sport’s decision to allow it under the jurisdiction of the French Boxing Federation.
UFC Paris will mark the third major MMA event in France. Bellator was the first promotion to break through with events held at Accor Arena in October 2020 (Bellator 248) and most recently earlier this month with Bellator 280, which featured heavyweight champion Ryan Bader defending his title against France native Cheick Kongo in a rematch.
In September, Gane (10-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) will look to rebound from his first-career loss to heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou at UFC 270 this past January. After capturing the interim heavyweight title with a TKO of Derrick Lewis at UFC 265, Gane was out-grappled by former teammate Ngannou in their title-unification headliner.
Meanwhile, Tuivasa has been on a roll. Since dropping three consecutive fights, the 29-year-old Australian brawler has finished his past five opponents, including three straight Performance of the Night knockouts of Greg Hardy, Augusto Sakai, and most recently Lewis at UFC 271 in February.
