""The sport is growing so fast here in France. When I started, we were so not many people doing MMA. It was not called MMA in France," Charriere recalled. "It was called 'free fight' and then pancrase. We were not allowed to throw a ground strike. We were fighting in a ring and not an octagon, all that kind of stuff.""
""The sport was not recognized by people. So we are not a real athlete for the French people. We had no support, no response," Charriere said. "So there was no money.""
""I always like to do hard stuff. I love sports since a really young age and I love martial arts. I started martial arts because I love what I've seen in movies, that kind of stuff. So I just wanted to be able to do the same things," he said. "So I found MMA just by luck because there was not big even France, and once I found it, I just fell in love in this sport. And I would just love to get a fight and fight someone win or lose - I didn't care. I just love the sport so much.""
Morgan Charriere recounts early MMA in France when the sport was unofficial, often labeled 'free fight' or pancrase, with prohibitions on ground strikes and competitions held in rings rather than octagons. Fighters lacked recognition, financial support, and public acceptance, so many practitioners were treated as hobbyists rather than athletes. Charriere describes a personal passion for martial arts and a willingness to fight irrespective of outcome, which sustained his career through those barriers. Since legalization just under six years ago, MMA has expanded rapidly in France, producing UFC competitors across multiple weight classes and increasing national visibility.
Read at Cageside Press
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