Sofiane Aïssaoui

Sofiane Aïssaoui (born August 23, 1991, in Revin) nicknamed "The Lion", is an Algerian-French mixed martial artist competing in the Welterweight division. A professional mixed martial artist since 2017, he was also a French champion of Pancrase.

Background
Sofiane Aïssaoui nicknamed "The Lion", was born on August 23, 1991, in Revin, his father is a leather worker named Smaïl and his mother who is a nurse named Malika. He has three brothers and a sister, and a daughter named Aliyah.

Sofiane began training judo in 1995 at the age of 4 until the age of 22. Then he discovered MMA at the age of 23.

Mixed martial arts career
As an amateur, he was selected for the French MMA team. He participated in the IMMAF amateur world championship in Las Vegas in July 2015 and the IMMAF European championship in Birmingham in November 2015.

From 2014 to 2016, he was a member of the French MMA team.

In 2016, he became WFC amateur MMA world champion in Milan, then Grappling world champion in May 2018, and won three French championship titles, two in Karate mix and one in Pancrace.

In June 2016, he opened his martial arts and combat sports gym in Reims called Lion Fight Gym.

In 2017, he won his first world belt.

In 2019, according to the 100% FIGHT organization, Sofiane makes the best submission of the year against Dimitri Henry during the King of Fight.

In 2020, he won the international title of Arena Des Sacres against Ruslan Heleshko.

In 2021, the Ministry of Sports rewards Sofiane Aïssaoui with the bronze medal, for his commitment to sports and associations.

Championships and achievements

 * French champion in Pancrase - amateur -
 * Twice French champion in Karate Mix -
 * European Champion in Luta Livre
 * World MMA Champion - amateur WFC (-77 kg)
 * WGMA World Grappling Champion (-77 kg)
 * Road to Contenders Champion - semi pro (-77 kg)
 * Champion of the Arena of Sacres (-77 kg)