A key figure in the world of mixed martial arts, Anthony Dizy has chosen to return to fight in France, after a career spent over ten years abroad. On May 24, he will headline the HEXAGONE MMA 16 event in his native Reims. An unmissable event.
Anthony Dizy has built his fighting career without any shortcuts. Far from the training gyms of Paris, he built his career in Reims with the minimum resources, but with the ambition of reaching the top. “As I lived in the provinces, when I started MMA, there was nothing. Someone brought together specialists in each discipline to try and set up a team, but we had no experience. My first professional fight, I went in without bandages, simply because nobody knew how to make them!” With hindsight, 35-year-old Anthony Dizy’s martial trajectory is all the more impressive. But that doesn’t mean it’s surprising. For, before shining in the cage, the Frenchman experienced top-level Greco-Roman wrestling, including a national championship title and a gold medal at the European junior championships. The problem was that, with French talent Steeve Guénot at his back, Dizy was never able to reach the very top of the world rankings. “When you’re number 2 behind an Olympic champion, you don’t go out and compete abroad, and you stick to the national championships. So at some point, it gets boring. That’s part of the reason why I switched to MMA.”
“I’m much more strategic”
In the cage, it was logically thanks to his wrestling that the man from Rémois was able to make the difference. It’s a powerful weapon, and one that has helped him reach the world’s top organizations: Bellator, Cage Warriors, BAMMA, M-1… Anthony Dizy even ended up in the prestigious $1 million PFL tournament. “I liked arriving abroad with my backpack, alone, in the position of outsider. Fighting in France, I see it as an added pressure. But it’s also what brought me out of retirement!” After a two-year break, Dizy returned to competition in 2023, motivated by the desire to fight in front of his home crowd, under the HEXAGONE MMA colors. And even if the passion of youth is gone, he can now count on a great deal of experience in major events. “Over the years, my style hasn’t changed; I’m still a wrestler. On the other hand, I’m much more strategic than I used to be!”
