Marseilles (AFP)

MMA star Conor McGregor hasn't only inspired men: Jennifer Trioreau is training like a dog to be the headliner of the extreme combat sport, cultivating her image as a fighter with false eyelashes on Instagram.

"I am hyper-feminine and it is the difference with the image of the fighter that pleases", assumes this 28-year-old Marseillaise.

Her role models in mixed martial arts: the flashy and sultry McGregor, "the king of com ', and that matters a lot", or the American champion Ronda Rousey.

Like the Irishman, she has a taste for staging, and has created a character for herself, with her orange hair, her nickname "Ariel", a nod to Disney's The Little Mermaid, or her multiple tattoos, including a "FEAR - LESS" ("fearless") inscribed on the phalanges.

"It's a real sport-spectacle, we are modern gladiators", summarizes Jennifer Trioreau.

"In MMA, there is of course the value of the fighter but also his number of + followers + (on social networks). The more impressive you are, the more people you have following you and the more you will sell for your fights", agrees Lionel Brézéphin, in charge of structuring MMA within the French Boxing Federation.

Popular but controversial, mixed martial arts, where almost anything goes, has long thrived underground in France.

For a year, the government authorized the competitions, opening up new perspectives.

- Pugnaceous -

About fifteen French women are trying to break through, like the Niçoise Manon Fiorot, who has just joined the prestigious American league UFC (Ultimate fighting Championship) and is due to fight on January 20 in Abu Dhabi.

"In women, in less than 52 kg, there are opportunities, as for heavyweights for men", confirms Jennifer Trioreau, referring to two categories where the fighters are few.

It only took one fight for her to stand out.

It was in January last year, against a Slovenian.

However, the Frenchwoman lost and finished with two rascals and a bloody nose.

But the commentators praised her pugnacity: she held the entirety of the three rounds of five minutes of the confrontation, crowned "Fight of the night" ("fight of the evening").

And if her mother cried when she saw her face, and at the airport she was discreetly asked if she was a victim of domestic violence, the young woman preferred to retain her ability to surpass herself.

As a teenager, Jennifer Trioreau began with synchronized swimming.

But after a competition, she causes a fight in the locker room.

“I don't like performance relying on anyone other than me,” she admits.

Her mother then puts her in her brother's boxing class.

She then switched to kickboxing and even won a bronze medal in full contact in the European Championship.

- 5% of women -

She still has gaps in wrestling and on the ground, but she has now chosen to go 100% in MMA - even though the Covid-19 thwarted her plans, including the cancellation of a fight scheduled for December .

"MMA is the ultimate combat sport. It requires optimum rigor and a lot of work to do," the feet-fists, the fight, the ground, lists Tevi Say, a pioneer in France.

For Jennifer, this translates to 3 to 4 workouts per week, but also 2 or 3 jogging sessions, and 3 or 4 weight training.

"I think she has the physical level, she wants, she also knows how to sell. On top of all that, she is not stupid, so she has all the assets to break through", believes Elodie Giorla, a doctor in neuroscience who trains with her.

"It's a complete profile, it can go very far," confirms Lionel Brézéphin.

The federation relies heavily on the emergence of female combatants to feminize this sport, which remains 95% male and which has everything to write about in France.

"You need female actresses to be able to identify yourself," Tevi Say insists.

She now runs MMA classes reserved for women and is delighted to see her students come out with "a boosted self-confidence" and able to adopt a "dissuasive posture" in the street.

© 2021 AFP