“When you grow up in Vitry-sur-Seine, in difficult neighborhoods, you don’t always have a choice. You have to fight to get respect.” Even if he doesn’t favor it, physical confrontation has always been part of Maximilien Vallot’s life. Before formal fights, brawls punctuated the youth of the 30-year-old Parisian, who eventually found a real outlet in the martial arts. “It’s channeled me a lot. It’s much better to put your energy into good things! So, far from thinking about a potential career, or the money that could be made from it, Maximilien Vallot has long seen combat sports as a form of therapy. And little by little, the top level became an obvious choice. A member of the French sambo team, he medaled at the discipline’s national and European championships, and even won bronze at the World Championships, in parallel with his MMA start.

“At the hospital, they tell me my career is over”.

But a career, and even a life, can sometimes hang by a thread. In 2017, during a simple warm-up in his gym, Maximilien Vallot suddenly collapsed on the mat, convulsed, and fell into a coma. Two and a half weeks later, he finally wakes up… paralyzed on his entire left side. “At the hospital, they told me my careerwas over, that I had to stop competing at the
highest level. As I was obstinate, I rehabilitated myself, learning to walk, eat, and write again. And after two months, I saw a sports doctor, and all the tests were positive. Since then, I’ve had something extra. I know why I’m here. His nickname, “Survivor”, is not stolen, and no one doubts Maximilien Vallot’s claim that he draws his strength from his mental strength. “I don’t give up, I don’t give up. It’s war in the cage!”