PXP enters the octagon!

After football, Project X Paris continues its incursion into the world of sports by becoming the official partner of the MMA league AEF Championship. On October 14, AEF 4 took place in Rennes, and PXP was obviously present on site. The show was also on point!

MMA, the new must-watch sport Initially seen as the black sheep of combat sports, MMA is gradually spreading worldwide. The story was rough at first, especially in France where the practice remained banned until 2020 precisely. Too violent, too "barbaric," the discipline was looked down upon by its elder brothers, who boasted a form of superiority over this new sport. What they didn’t realize then is that MMA is much more complete than each combat sport taken individually. MMA encompasses everything: boxing, grappling, Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu, judo,... and it is about to surpass all other combat sports in popularity. In France, it is even on track to become one of the most followed sports, thanks to many champions like Cédric Doumbe, Cyril Gane, or Francis Ngannou, who trained here for a long time. We can also thank Conor McGregor, whose flamboyant attitude attracted worldwide attention to this sport previously almost unknown to the general public.

Thanks to the buzz created by the sport’s great champions, MMA is now legal in most highly populated countries, opening huge market shares in terms of audience. Little by little, this sport integrates popular culture, and in France this translates into many links with rap or football, for example. We witnessed this during Cédric Doumbe’s fight some time ago, which was attended by many footballers and rappers. MMA and rap share several points in common, starting with being seen as the underdogs of sport or music, but having managed to impose themselves thanks to true popular enthusiasm. Both reflect the youth of our country: diverse, determined, inventive, with a level that keeps rising. Many schools and clubs are emerging all over the country, which increases the overall competitiveness of the MMA pool in France. The more people interested in the discipline, the more unique talents are discovered and the higher the overall level will rise.

Project X Paris partner of AEF Championship In this perspective, many combat leagues, pro or amateur, are emerging across the country. We recently heard a lot about leagues like PFL or Arès (and UFC internationally which also holds events in France), but we often forget to mention the many leagues opening to amateurs. This status concerns a large majority of MMA practitioners in France and is naturally the number 1 talent pool for pro leagues. At Project X, we are extremely proud to announce we became partners of the Breton amateur league AEF Championship, which organized its fourth MMA gala of the year in Rennes. A colossal work by the league members and Willy Sirope, former world Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion who founded the structure. On October 14, the event took place at Halle de la Courrouze. Eleven fights, with 8 KOs or submissions, and a main event that ended with a beautiful victory by Patrick Habirora, we can say the show was on point, and the attendees agreed the fights were balanced, a good thing for the organization’s credibility. That day, there was also a former rapper, Abou Debeing, who fought in the octagon and won his first victory.

A great event we are happy to be associated with at Project X Paris. We really got involved, since the weigh-in, that inevitable ritual before each fight ensuring fighters don’t exceed the weight limit to stay in their category, took place in one of our stores! More precisely, the one at Columbia Shopping Center in Rennes, and we salute Salim Belhaj and his team for all the organization and logistics work on site. Because we can say there was a crowd! The store was simply packed, and the atmosphere was electric between fighters sizing each other up. A fighter presentation also took place in our shop, amid a cheering crowd. Incredible memories for all present that evening at the store. This AEF 4, closing a promising year for AEF Championship, is exactly the kind of local, ambitious and inventive initiative we validate at PXP. We hope to see this league thrive, to collaborate again with such events, and long live French MMA!