“This is the fight, in the cage, not in the street”: the practice of MMA has exploded in Polynesia since its legalization in December 2019. Long suspicious, the authorities now consider this discipline as a means of combating the violence of street.
The frequent fights of teenagers or young adults, filmed on mobile phones in downtown Papeete, have long held back mixed martial arts (MMA, according to their English acronym).
But local champions of this combat sport which combines several martial arts and allows kicks, fists, knees and elbows, as well as blows to the ground and strangulation inside a closed cage, have publicly committed against these fights outside the gyms.
Like Taramu Tinirau: “To all the young people who go fight [se battre] in the street, that’s the fight, in the cage, not in the street”, he launched at the end of September, having just won a fight and still out of breath, pointing to the cage where he had just fought .
There was a “fear of teaching young people to fight, but I have a different vision, because the club is structured, with referees and security”, explains to AFP the Minister of Sports of the Polynesian government. , Naea Bennett.
“They fight on the streets, but this sport can channel them. You don’t have to fight to be the boss of the neighborhood, that only leads to prison, whereas when you fight for your country, you can have a global career and be a champion, ”he continues.
” Strong potential “
The Polynesian Federation of wrestling, mixed martial arts, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and associated disciplines has 35 clubs and a thousand licensees for a population of 280,000 inhabitants.
According to the technical director of this federation, David Proia, jiu-jitsu and wrestling are in decline, and the vast majority of its licensees practice mixed martial arts. “The Polynesian is a warrior, combat sports suit him well: we have a good breeding ground and a strong potential for champions in MMA”, he believes.
No Tahitian has yet reached the highest level in the world, namely the American professional leagues UFC or Bellator, but some have already achieved international success, such as Henri Burns and Raihere Dudes for men, or Flore Hani for women, always outside Polynesia.
The first professional bouts are scheduled to take place in Tahiti on November 25.
But the local encounters are already spectacular, with giant screens, lighting effects, thunderous entries from the fighters and show American style.
Their organizer is Bernard Di Rollo, a judo teacher who has diversified with already three evenings devoted to MMA.
For the last, on September 24, he had invited six fighters from New Caledonia. Mixed martial arts are much less developed in this other French community in the South Pacific. The Caledonians lost 5 to 1 against the Polynesians.