The Arena Contestants: Where Are They Now? Meet the 38 MMA Fighters
Netflix’s The Arena begins with an unusually large reality competition cast: 38 amateur MMA fighters, divided equally between 19 women and 19 men. They arrive with very different backgrounds, ranging from kickboxing and Muay Thai champions to wrestlers, Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialists and athletes who have only recently committed themselves fully to MMA. Ciryl Gane, Cédric…
Netflix’s The Arena begins with an unusually large reality competition cast: 38 amateur MMA fighters, divided equally between 19 women and 19 men. They arrive with very different backgrounds, ranging from kickboxing and Muay Thai champions to wrestlers, Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialists and athletes who have only recently committed themselves fully to MMA.
Ciryl Gane, Cédric Doumbè and Benoît Saint-Denis oversee the competition, where a male and female winner are ultimately competing for €100,000 each and a professional opportunity. Netflix confirms the 38-fighter format, although its official public cast listing currently highlights the three mentors rather than providing a convenient complete contestant directory.
That makes the contestants themselves one of the most interesting parts of The Arena to explore. Some already had substantial combat-sports careers before Netflix came calling, while others are far more difficult to trace outside the series. Here is what the first five episodes reveal about the fighters, what happened to them in the competition so far, and where they are now as of September 30, 2026.
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Mallaury Kalachnikoff
Mallaury Kalachnikoff, known in the competition as “Kalach,” arrives with one of the deepest striking backgrounds among the women. She explains that she started boxing at nine because her older brothers were involved in the sport, later spent four years in Muay Thai and then roughly 15 years in K-1 style kickboxing. By the time she reaches The Arena, she has already won major French, European and world-level kickboxing honors.
Mallaury beats Méryl and then defeats Jade in one of the most competitive fights of the first stage. The second victory unfortunately ends her tournament because she injures her right hand during the fight and is later diagnosed with a complicated fracture involving the joint.
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Where is Mallaury now? Mallaury was already an established professional kickboxer long before the Netflix series, and public records continue to identify her as an active French combat-sports athlete. Sherdog also records an amateur MMA victory over Emilie Jeanlys at AEC 13 in May 2025, although no later MMA bout is currently listed there.
Jade Henry
Jade Henry is only 19 during The Arena, but her age is misleading when it comes to experience. She says she had already completed 23 boxing contests, winning 17 of them, and describes French and international success before entering the Netflix competition.
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Jade loses to Mallaury in the open-cage challenge but performs well enough that the mentors decide she deserves another opportunity. That decision pays off in Episode 5 when Jade defeats Marika by unanimous decision and finally earns a victory that cannot be described as merely a second chance.
Where is Jade now? Jade’s combat-sports career predates The Arena, with Tribu Palestra Metz publicly documenting her French Muay Thai championship success. There is not yet enough reliable post-show information to establish her next major fight as of September 30, but she remains one of the contestants whose existing background suggests a future in combat sports rather than a one-off reality TV appearance.
Kheira Belal
Kheira Belal is 28 during filming and says she spent more than 15 years practicing karate. After repeatedly finishing as a French vice-champion in karate, she moved toward MMA, where the wider range of techniques gave her a different way to express herself as a fighter.
Clémentine eliminates Kheira during the open-sided cage stage, but that turns out not to be the end. Mallaury’s injury creates an open place in the women’s field, and the mentors specifically select Kheira to return because they want to see more of her unusual striking style. She then beats Sarah by unanimous decision.
Where is Kheira now? Public fight records still list Kheira as an amateur MMA fighter. Tapology records her at 1-1, with both documented bouts taking place in January 2026, so she was still actively developing her MMA career relatively close to the Netflix premiere.
Asita Ouattara
Asita Ouattara is 28 in The Arena and lives in Chelles, where she works as a computer engineer. Born in Ivory Coast, she moved to France with her family when she was 11 and began with judo before expanding into wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and eventually MMA.
Asita tells the series that she entered with an unbeaten MMA record and survives the first major reduction of the field. She remains part of the competition when the fighters are divided into teams.
Where is Asita now? Unlike several of the more established contestants, there is currently very little reliable public information documenting Asita’s activities after filming. Her current professional or amateur fight schedule therefore should not be guessed until a federation record, gym announcement or verified athlete profile provides a clear update.
Emma
Emma quickly establishes herself as one of the strongest women in the opening physical test. Winning that challenge gives her protection from the first elimination and a degree of influence over how the opening matchup is formed.
She continues beyond the first stage and remains involved after The Arena moves away from individual physical tests and toward direct elimination fights. Her early success makes her one of the women worth watching even though Episodes 1-5 spend less time on her personal history than on Mallaury, Jade or Kheira.
Where is Emma now? Netflix has not yet supplied enough identifying information to confidently connect the Emma from The Arena with an outside athlete profile. Until her surname or gym is officially confirmed, any attempt to attach an online MMA record to her would risk identifying the wrong fighter.
Méryl Fourgeaud
Méryl Fourgeaud is 26 in The Arena and enters combat sports through Thai boxing before eventually moving into MMA. Her most memorable storyline comes before her first fight because she becomes deeply worried about facing Mallaury’s striking experience.
Méryl performs better than she fears she will but ultimately loses the matchup and becomes the first woman eliminated. Her Arena journey is short, but her real MMA career did not end with that result.
Where is Méryl now? Méryl has continued competing in French amateur MMA. Sherdog records several bouts after the period represented in The Arena, including fights against Clémentine Pauty in May and June 2026, showing that she remained an active competitor heading into the Netflix release.
Clémentine Pauty
The English subtitles identify her surname as Poitie, while French MMA records list the fighter as Clémentine Pauty. She is 28 during the competition and explains that people do not necessarily look at her and immediately assume she is a fighter, something she appears to enjoy disproving.
Clémentine eliminates Kheira with an armbar in the open-cage stage and advances deeper into the competition. Kheira later returns because of Mallaury’s injury, but Clémentine’s original victory remains one of the cleaner submission performances of the first batch.
Where is Clémentine now? Clémentine has been highly active in amateur MMA outside the show. Sherdog records victories over Méryl Fourgeaud in May and June 2026 and another win at the French MMA Championship on June 14, making her one of the contestants with the clearest recent competitive record.
Sarah Lydie
Sarah Lydie, referred to as Sarah Lydier in the English subtitles, comes to MMA from high-level handball. That background helps explain her physical confidence and competitive mentality when she enters The Arena.
Sarah reaches the team phase but is selected to face returning contestant Kheira. The fight reaches the judges, where Kheira receives the unanimous decision and Sarah’s Netflix competition ends.
Where is Sarah now? Sarah’s move from handball to MMA is not simply part of her Netflix storyline. Her former handball club publicly announced in June 2025 that she was leaving the sport after six seasons to focus on a new MMA career, confirming that her transition was already underway outside the series.
Marie Cahorel, aka Marika
Marie Cahorel competes under the name Marika and is 25 during filming. She is also a law student, but her sporting résumé is much more developed than that description might suggest because she says she is a three-time French Muay Thai champion and a WBC Intercontinental champion.
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Marika enters the team phase without having to show as much of her game as some of the other women, which makes her something of an unknown quantity. Jade eventually faces her in Episode 5 and wins by unanimous decision, eliminating Marika.
Where is Marika now? Marika makes clear in the episode that her goal is to move from professional Muay Thai into professional MMA. Reliable public records connecting Marie Cahorel to a confirmed post-Arena MMA debut remain limited at the time of publication, so the transition she describes on the show is still the most accurate picture of her current career direction.
Valentine Dugerdil
Valentine talks about structuring almost every part of her life around MMA, including stepping away from school and seeing less of friends and family. Her commitment makes her one of the contestants who appears to view The Arena as a professional opportunity rather than merely an unusual competition experience.
She survives the early eliminations and remains part of the field through Episode 5. The first five episodes have not yet provided the defining fight of her Arena run.
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Where is Valentine now? Public fight records identify Valentine Dugerdil as an active amateur bantamweight who competed repeatedly across France and elsewhere in Europe. Her record includes a January 2026 bout against Clémentine Pauty, indicating that she continued competing after the period represented in the show.
Nada Al Ayoubi
Nada makes it through the initial challenges and remains long enough to enter the team stage. Her departure then comes without an elimination fight when Episode 4 explains that she has to return home for personal reasons.
The show does not say what those personal circumstances were. There is therefore no responsible basis for attaching a more dramatic explanation to her decision.
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Where is Nada now? Nada has a documented amateur MMA background outside Netflix, with French federation-level fights against competitors including Clémentine Pauty and Emilie Jeanlys. Public databases contain results through 2025, but no clearly verified 2026 bout has surfaced at the time of the show’s premiere.
Hasna
Hasna is one of the women visible during the early Fight Camp stages but receives substantially less biography time than the central contestants. That makes it difficult to establish her background from the series without relying on assumptions.
Where is Hasna now? Netflix’s public material does not currently provide her surname, gym or complete athlete profile. Because “Hasna” alone is not enough to confidently match her with a specific fighter in public databases, her post-show status remains unverified.
Mariame
Mariame is another member of the original women’s field whose name appears during the opening stages without an extended personal introduction. Her relatively limited screen time means the first five episodes reveal much less about her than about the women who reach the later featured fights.
Where is Mariame now? There are French amateur MMA records for athletes with the same first name, but Netflix has not publicly provided enough identifying information to safely connect those records to this contestant. Her current status should therefore remain listed as unconfirmed rather than attaching the wrong fighter’s résumé to her.
Pauline
Pauline appears among the original female contestants but is not one of the fighters given a detailed introduction in Episodes 1-5. Her time in the opening stage is therefore easier to follow through the competition itself than through personal biography.
Where is Pauline now? There is currently no reliable public profile that can be confidently matched to The Arena’s Pauline using the information Netflix has released. A surname, gym or additional episode information would be needed before adding a current fight record.
Roxanne
Roxanne is part of the opening 19-woman field and appears during the early reduction process. Like several contestants removed or de-emphasized during the rapid first stages, she does not receive enough screen time for the series to establish a complete background.
Where is Roxanne now? Public information remains too limited to identify her current combat-sports career with confidence. This entry should be updated once Netflix, the fighter herself or an established gym publicly connects a full name to the series.
Lina
Lina appears among the women competing in the early stages, but her complete identity is not spelled out in the released English subtitles. That matters because French MMA has multiple active athletes whose profiles could otherwise be mistakenly connected to the show.
Where is Lina now? Lina Hammouche is one notable French MMA fighter who has competed internationally and made a documented professional appearance, but Netflix has not yet provided enough evidence to state that she is definitely the Lina shown in The Arena. Until that identification is confirmed, her current status should remain open rather than presented as fact.
Nina
Nina is named during the first batch but receives little individual biography material. That is partly a consequence of The Arena beginning with 38 people and reducing the field quickly.
Where is Nina now? No verified full identity or current MMA profile has yet been publicly connected to the contestant. Her section should be expanded if later episodes, credits or the athlete’s own public accounts establish the connection.
Sonia
Sonia is another fighter whose name appears during the early women’s competition without the extended introduction given to several of the eventual featured contestants. Her background is therefore not fully established by Episodes 1-5.
Where is Sonia now? French amateur fighter Sonia Bouchair has a documented competitive résumé that includes bouts against several names appearing in The Arena’s wider fighting circle, but Netflix has not publicly confirmed that the contestant is Bouchair. It is safer to leave that connection unconfirmed until stronger evidence appears.
Célia
Célia completes the group of women whose early involvement is visible but who receive limited personal storytelling during the first release batch. The fast pace of the initial eliminations leaves several members of the original cast in that position.
Where is Célia now? There is not yet enough publicly verified identifying information to trace her current fighting career. This is another section that should be expanded as a complete official contestant list becomes available.
The Men of The Arena
Mathis Chevalier
Mathis Chevalier is 26 during the competition and becomes one of the most distinctive personalities in Episodes 1-5. He speaks about supporting LGBT representation in combat sports and enters The Arena with significant amateur MMA experience.
Mathis initially loses to Joey after controlling much of their open-cage fight, only for one mistake near the water to decide the contest. The mentors believe his performance deserves another chance and bring him back, which becomes the source of continuing tension with Joey.
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Where is Mathis now? Mathis remains involved in MMA but has also built work in modeling, photography and acting. Le Parisien profiled him in September 2026 as an amateur European champion who continues using his growing public platform to challenge narrow ideas about masculinity and LGBT visibility in combat sports.
Joe “Joey” Enazello
Joe Enazello is 26, was born and raised in Brussels and says he studies computer science while also having training in watchmaking. His background is unusual even in a cast designed around very different personalities.
Joey eliminates Mathis in the open-cage stage and is understandably unhappy when Mathis later returns. Their disagreement carries into training and gives The Arena one of its first ongoing interpersonal rivalries.
Where is Joey now? A reliable post-show professional record or public athlete profile has not yet surfaced under the exact identity given in the series. For now, the safest current description is that Joey remains associated with the MMA path shown on Netflix, while his next documented competitive move is still unclear.
Mahamade Demba Samba
Mahamade Demba Samba is 28 during filming and says MMA helped give his life direction. One of the more personal parts of his story is that his family does not initially know the full extent of his commitment to the sport, leaving him feeling as though he is maintaining two lives.
Mahamade nearly loses his opportunity during the first challenge after the mentors question how he moved the bag, but he survives the resulting fight against Alpha. That victory gives him the chance to continue proving himself.
Where is Mahamade now? Mahamade remains a well-documented French amateur lightweight. Tapology lists him with an 11-7 amateur record and Boxing Squad affiliation, while his most recent listed MMA bout took place in September 2025.
Emmanuel
Emmanuel is 28 during filming and connects his Arena ambitions directly to his family. He talks about financial pressure and wanting to create greater security for his children, which gives his fights stakes beyond simply building an MMA résumé.
He eliminates Bilal during the open-cage stage and later beats Mounir by unanimous decision in one of the more emotionally significant fights of the team phase. Emmanuel therefore remains active in the competition when Episode 5 ends.
Where is Emmanuel now? The series does not provide enough identifying information to confidently separate him from several French and Belgian MMA fighters with the same first name. Until Netflix publishes a full surname or gym affiliation, his current external career cannot be verified responsibly.
Luidgi Grimoire
Luidgi Grimoire is one of the contestants who enters The Arena with a substantial competitive reputation. He defeats Auguste during the open-cage stage and survives into the smaller field.
Where is Luidgi now? Luidgi continues to be publicly identified with competitive MMA. LINFO reported before the Netflix premiere that he had become the first fighter from Réunion to win the French MMA championship and the first from the island to participate in the world championships, making him one of the cast’s more accomplished amateur fighters.
Alpha-Yero Mansare
Alpha-Yero Mansare is only 19 in The Arena and shares one of the cast’s most difficult life stories. He left Guinea as a young teenager, traveled through Libya and Italy before eventually reaching France, and later found a route into combat sports.
Alpha loses the first male elimination fight against Mahamade. His Netflix journey ends early, but his wider MMA career has already moved considerably beyond where viewers leave him in Episode 1.
Where is Alpha now? Alpha is now a professional MMA fighter and has moved to the United States to continue his career. Impact Boxing Zone says he trained at Jackson Wink MMA Academy and joined LFA in 2026, while fight records show his professional debut at LFA 230 in April.
Mounir
Mounir is 30 in The Arena and works in education and physical preparation while also helping other fighters. His close bond with the younger Bilal makes Emmanuel’s earlier victory over Bilal particularly significant.
Mounir later gets the opportunity to face Emmanuel himself but loses by unanimous decision. The result affects him enough that he begins questioning whether he should continue fighting or devote more energy to coaching.
Where is Mounir now? Episode 5 should not be treated as confirmation that Mounir has officially retired because he only says the experience has made him think about hanging up the gloves. No reliable public retirement announcement has surfaced, so his current status is better described as uncertain rather than retired.
Bogdan Ouzdeyev
Bogdan Ouzdeyev is 23 and says his family left Chechnya when he was young. After arriving in France, he eventually found Brazilian jiu-jitsu through his older brother before developing into an MMA fighter.
Bogdan survives the opening stages and becomes increasingly important when the team competition begins. Episode 5 sets up another major test for him rather than completing his storyline.
Where is Bogdan now? Publicly indexed current information under the exact name used by Netflix remains limited. The show establishes that he is a serious amateur competitor, but a confirmed post-filming fight record has not yet been reliably connected to him.
Jean-Bani, aka Captain France
Jean-Bani is 22 and uses the nickname “Captain France.” Born and raised in Paris, he talks about trying several sports before MMA eventually became the discipline around which he began organizing his life.
He says he trains twice a day for much of the week and survives into the team stage. His combination of confidence and physical ability makes him one of the men who receives more attention as the field becomes smaller.
Where is Jean-Bani now? Netflix has not yet provided a full surname or clearly linked athlete profile for Captain France. His current training or fight schedule is therefore not something that can be verified from reliable public sources yet.
Malik Abdouraguimov
Malik Abdouraguimov, nicknamed “Lazy Prince,” is 21 and comes from a Dagestani family with strong combat-sports connections. He is also the younger brother of established professional fighter Abdoul Abdouraguimov and enters The Arena with Brazilian jiu-jitsu as his clearest strength.
Malik advances through the opening stage and continues to look particularly dangerous whenever grappling becomes important. His submission ability makes him one of the contestants opponents have to plan around rather than simply trade with.
Where is Malik now? Malik is still highly active in grappling as well as MMA. IBJJF records show him winning both his weight division in gi and no-gi competition at the Paris Spring International Open in 2026, while Tapology lists him as a 4-1 amateur MMA fighter representing Delariva Nantes.
Thomas
Thomas is 24 and enters alongside his younger brother Duncan. Their father had a background in boxing, while Thomas became a successful wrestler before eventually moving toward MMA.
The brothers hope to progress together, but the open-cage round ends that possibility when Thomas is eliminated. Duncan then has to continue without him.
Where is Thomas now? The episodes do not provide enough identifying information to confidently attach Thomas to an outside MMA record. His current competitive activity therefore remains unverified rather than something that should be filled in from a similarly named fighter.
Duncan
Duncan grows up following Thomas into combat sports and begins wrestling at a young age. The brothers eventually transition toward MMA and enter The Arena hoping their shared background will take them deep into the competition.
Duncan’s open-cage fight against Malik ends when his attempt to escape a submission takes him into the water, resulting in his elimination. With Thomas already gone, both brothers leave during the same broad stage of the competition.
Where is Duncan now? Like Thomas, Duncan’s complete public identity is not yet established by Netflix’s cast material. There is therefore no sufficiently reliable basis to state what gym or promotion he is currently competing with.
Bilal
Bilal is 20 and explains that combat sports gave him discipline and structure during a period when he struggled with aggression. His relationship with Mounir quickly becomes one of the more supportive friendships within the men’s cast.
Emmanuel eliminates Bilal during the open-cage stage. That result continues to matter after Bilal leaves because it contributes to the later personal tension surrounding Emmanuel and Mounir.
Where is Bilal now? Netflix has not yet released enough identifying information to distinguish him confidently from the many active French fighters named Bilal. His current MMA record and gym should remain unlisted until his full identity is confirmed.
Auguste
Auguste enters The Arena after a major interruption to his sporting progress. He explains that a serious leg injury had kept him away while other athletes continued advancing, making the competition part of his attempted comeback.
Luidgi selects Auguste during the open-cage phase and eliminates him. The result ends his Netflix run before viewers can see whether his comeback would have survived the later standard MMA fights.
Where is Auguste now? There is currently no reliable post-show profile that can be confidently tied to him from the information Netflix provides. His present competitive status therefore remains unknown.
Axel
Axel is only 18 and is presented as one of the youngest grappling prospects in the competition. The mentors notice his Brazilian jiu-jitsu ability during the early stages, giving him a clear technical identity even though his personal story receives limited screen time.
Where is Axel now? Several French MMA fighters named Axel have public records, but the series has not released enough details to identify which profile belongs to this contestant. His current status is therefore best left unconfirmed.
Hicham
Hicham appears among the male competitors who survive long enough to be discussed during later team strategy. His screen time in the first five episodes is relatively small compared with Mathis, Joey, Mahamade or Bogdan.
Where is Hicham now? A full surname and gym have not yet been established in Netflix’s publicly available information. Without those identifiers, his current career cannot be accurately traced.
Stephen
Stephen is noticeable during the opening episode because he is frequently heard encouraging fighters during the first eliminations. He is part of the wider Fight Camp group but is not given the same biography package as the contestants around whom the first episodes are structured.
Where is Stephen now? There is not yet enough public information to confidently identify his outside MMA profile. Later episodes or a complete Netflix roster may make that possible.
Mahmoud
Mahmoud becomes more relevant when Episode 5 moves toward another men’s matchup and Bogdan is told he will face him. The episode positions Mahmoud as someone his opponent believes can be controlled, but it also makes clear that writing him off would be dangerous.
Where is Mahmoud now? Netflix has not yet provided a surname or public athlete profile that can be reliably attached to him. His current competitive record therefore remains unverified as the first five episodes end.
Yoan
Yoan is visible around the original Fight Camp and is heard during an early moment when Duncan becomes unwell. He does not receive enough individual storytelling in Episodes 1-5 to establish the same level of personal background as the major contestants.
Where is Yoan now? Public information is currently insufficient to confidently identify his full combat-sports profile. As with several of the contestants who receive limited early screen time, his entry should be updated once Netflix or the athlete publicly confirms his full name.
Who Is Still Competing After Episode 5?
The first five episodes substantially reduce the original cast, but the competition is nowhere near finished. Several fighters have been removed through direct eliminations, while Mallaury has to leave because of injury and Nada departs for personal reasons.
Jade, Mathis and Kheira also prove that leaving the competition does not always mean the end. Jade and Mathis receive second chances because their performances impress the mentors, while Kheira returns specifically because Mallaury’s medical withdrawal creates an open place.
The remaining contestants are now moving toward a much smaller field. Episode 5 previews a point at which just eight semifinalists will remain, and those fighters will travel to Thailand for the next major stage of The Arena.
Where Are The Arena Contestants Heading Next?
The most interesting thing about the cast is that many of them were already genuine competitive athletes before Netflix arrived. Mathis remains involved in MMA while also pursuing creative work, Alpha has already moved into professional competition in the United States, Malik continues collecting grappling results, and fighters including Clémentine and Méryl have competed in French amateur MMA during 2026.
