The ARES Fighting Championship opens its 2026 season in Nice on Friday, January 9, with the ARES 37 event: local Virgil Augen vs. Henrique Shiguemoto 2. The Palais Nikaïa will host a new night of professional MMA, featuring two championship fights and a card structured between national and international contests.
ARES FC will hold its first event of the year this Friday, January 9, 2026, and will be back at the Palais Nikaia in Nice with ARES 37: Augen vs. Shiguemoto 2. This evening marks the official launch of the 2026 season for the French MMA league. The Palais Nikaïa had already hosted a previous edition in January 2025, confirming the organization’s presence on the Côte d’Azur. Nice is thus once again one of the stops on the ARES Fighting Championship calendar.
Since September 2024, ARES Fighting Championship has been reaching out to its audiences throughout France to offer regular events across the territory. This regional deployment strategy is part of a desire to structure professional MMA. The official recognition of the discipline in France dates back to 2020. MMA combines techniques from many martial arts and combat sports, including judo, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing, Muay Thai, kickboxing, and karate.
A Rematch for the Middleweight Belt
Headlining at home, the Niçois Virgil Augen, reigning middleweight champion since his victory over Vlad Gutu in 2024, will make his second title defense against Henrique Shiguemoto. The main fight of the evening is scheduled for five rounds, in line with the championship fight format.
Augen (8–0) and Shiguemoto (15–5-1) have already faced each other once in December 2023. Virgil Augen, who trains at the Boxing Squad in Nice, won by unanimous decision in a duel planned for three rounds. This rematch will take place over a longer duration this time, with a direct stake around the belt. The shift to a five-round format could affect the management of the fight and the pace of exchanges.
This matchup is the central point of the evening. The middleweight division holds an important place within the ARES FC organization. The Palais Nikaïa will serve as the setting for this second official showdown between the two fighters.
A Heavyweight Unification Bout
In the co-main event, Moreno Kacapor, heavyweight champion, will make his first title defense, won five months earlier against Abu Bakr Bathily. For this new challenge, the Swiss fighter (12–3) will face Xavier Lessou (5–2). Xavier Lessou holds the interim belt in the division.
This fight will bring together the two titleholders in the heavyweight category. The sporting challenge concerns the unification of the belt. This confrontation is among the awaited moments of the main card and is part of the ongoing structuring of divisions within the ARES Fighting Championship.
The main card will begin at 9:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on Canal+ Sport 360. It will include the following fights: Virgil Augen vs. Henrique Shiguemoto / Moreno Kacapor vs. Xavier Lessou / Ylies Djiroun vs. Antonio Roberto / Sofiane Boukichou vs. Rony Bouzy / Moustapha Aida vs. Andrey Tyshchenko / Amir Aliev vs. Denis Palancia.
The preliminary card, consisting of fights scheduled to heat up the arena before the main event, will start at 7:30 p.m. on Twitch. The scheduled matchups are:
– Arif Krasniqi vs. Welsey Martins
– Sofiane El Fatni vs. Andrii Misiuk
– Akhmed Amaev vs. Wendrio Da Silva Chaves
– Dione Abdoulaye vs. Nasser Boungab
The event will benefit from extensive audiovisual coverage. The broadcast is planned on Canal+ Sport in France. An international PayPerView broadcast in English will also be provided. This setup ensures both national and global coverage. If you wish to attend the event, there are still some tickets available starting from €55 up to €299 on the ARES ticketing platform.
