Bendy Casimir: Breaking the Taboo

By Frank Curreri

Le MMA est un sport.

And Bendy Casimir, a lifelong French citizen, envisages the day when his disapproving countrymen come to believe it. As it stands today, the pro fighter remains a reluctant outcast of sorts in his own country, courtesy of his unpopular and widely misunderstood career choice.

Telling people in France that you are a mixed martial artist doesn’t tend to garner much instant respect. Indeed, the purest of all sports is banned throughout France. Thus, in stark contrast to neighboring Britain, MMA fans in France are often tight-lipped about their passion, closely guarding their guilty pleasure so as not to stir aspersions about their sanity. Relatively few people in the land of croissants and crepes even know what the initials ‘MMA’ stand for, and just as many will show bewilderment or blank stares if you ask them about the UFC brand.

“Probably 80 percent of the people in France don’t like MMA. They think it’s like streetfighting, with no rules. They don’t think it’s a sport,” Casimir, who speaks little English, said through a translator. “The 20 percent who do like the sport – a lot of them are afraid to admit it publicly.”

Though renowned for its exquisite architecture, fine cuisine and innovative fashions, France is no place for a mixed martial artist who eyes greatness. There are no cages in which to practice, a huge disadvantage when you consider that the two biggest promotions in the world – the UFC and sister promotion WEC – feature fights in Octagon cages, and crafting a strategy that conforms with those steel dimensions can be the difference between your hand being raised after a bout or not.

Given the dearth of top MMA fighters in France, and subpar training facilities, the list of mixed martial artists who have made a splash on the biggest stage is alarmingly short: UFC heavyweight contender Cheick Kongo stands alone. Behind him is promising lightweight David Baron (14-3). (It is notable, however, that both Kongo and a former UFC fighter, Jess Liaudin, both trained MMA extensively in England). Like Kongo and Baron, Casimir (19-5-2) is now trying to make a name for himself. At the urging of Ferrid Kheder, a former Olympic judoka and MMA fighter (16-5), Casimir has trained for the past several months in Las Vegas at the TapOuT gym under Shawn Tompkins and Keebo Robinson.

On March 6, the French lightweight is slated to make his WEC debut against Ricardo Lamas (7-1), a former collegiate wrestler with solid and ever-improving striking. It would seem, based on the recorded histories of both men, that Casimir would be best served by taking Lamas down and then exploiting him with superior jiu-jitsu. But no fighter has been able to take Lamas down so far – not even Danny Castillo, a former collegiate wrestler who trains with Urijah Faber and a seasoned team of wrestlers.

“He looks like a good fighter,” Casimir said. “He’s a wrestler. A fight is a fight. Anything can happen. My team and I will sit down and develop a strategy for him, but I will just train hard and prepare for everything.”

For decades France has churned out some of the world’s best judo players (ranking second only to Japan). Casimir, however, does not come from a judo background, making it all the more startling to watch him do his thing on the mat. He’s been training Brazilian jiu-jitsu for roughly eight years, competing on the European circuit. Armed with natural athleticism and ripped biceps, he is seasoned and dangerous on the ground, boasting a wide array of submissions that include a myriad of kneebars, footlocks and chokes (Note: 12 of his 19 wins have come via submission). But all of Casimir’s fights have occurred in Europe, Russia or Japan. The ultimate test of his skills will be in the WEC, where Casimir will have to show that he is more than a one-trick pony to fend off a formidable crop of lightweights.

There are indications that Casimir, 28, is catching on quick in the stand-up game. A tale from the TapouT Gym illustrates the point: One day Tompkins showed Casimir a punching and kicking combination. Later that same day in training – against a seasoned pro fighter Casimir threw the same combination, knocking his sparring partner out cold with a high kick.

It is not the only knockout that has occurred in their heated, “tough love” sparring sessions.

“Yes, yes, yes. We do hard sparring,” said Kheder. “We always train hard. If you train hard every day, a fight is really easy. We spar at least three times a week in the same conditions as a fight. For sure, we try not to hurt each other; we don’t cut each other or use elbows. But many times, if we can knock out the guy (sparring partner), we do it because we need to work on our defense so we don’t get knocked out. It can happen in the fight and you need to be ready to eat some big punches and I think that is the best way to be ready to fight in the big show and be ready for the worst thing that can happen in a fight. Yes, some people are a little bit surprised.”

No one more than Casimir’s mother, who sat down with her son a few years ago to catch a glimpse of his profession – which until then was beyond her comprehension.

“Wow, that’s incredible that my son practices a sport like that!” she said. “I was thinking that you were pretty quiet and calm.”

“Yes, but I need that to feel good,” he told her.

“Ok, if that’s what you like, do it. I don’t want you to be violent outside of the cage. If you’re going to do a sport like that you have to be reasonable.”

That he is. Casimir went to college in France for two years before dropping out.

“I didn’t want to be a teacher,” he explained. “I just wanted to be an athlete.”

Casimir’s family immigrated to France from Haiti decades ago and settled in a suburb outside of Paris. The massive earthquake that recently devastated Haiti and killed so many remains on Casimir’s mind.

“I’ve only visited Haiti once, but I feel like a Haitian because my family is from Haiti,” he said. “We have a lot of family over there and my parents know them. It affects me through my parents.”

A gentle man of few words, Casimir counts among his role models Ghandi.

“He’s a role model because, without violence, he gained independence for his country,” Casimir said. “For me that’s an example, because without violence you can get what you want, if you’re smart. It’s unbelievable because usually people (nations) don’t get the change they want without violence.”