Sacred in Tokyo last summer, Steven Da Costa will not be able to defend his title in Paris in 2024 after the withdrawal of karate from the Olympic program. A situation that could push him to embark on a transition to MMA. The French fighter confided in this desire, and on what is holding him back for the moment, at the microphone of the RMC Fighter Club.
What if Steven Da Costa made the transition to MMA? Unexpected, the question makes sense when you know that the Olympic champion karateka in Tokyo is a big fan of the discipline. « I really like it and I know it well, » he smiles. In January, he was even welcomed on the set of RMC Sport for the evening of the shock for the heavyweight title of the UFC between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane. When he left the studios, he told us that the transition to the fashionable combat sport could interest him and that several coaches had expressed their interest in welcoming him.
When we received him in the last few days in the RMC Fighter Club, we therefore did not hesitate to tickle him on the subject. “It could please me, of course, crazy, he says enthusiastically. The only brake I have, especially in a period when I am tired because the fallout from the Games arrived not long ago. for me, it’s a question: am I really motivated to start from scratch somewhere else? Maybe not necessarily from scratch but there is a lot to see. That’s not what bothers me but do I really have the fangs to start from such a low place to go to such a high level? Especially since I know that with my status in karate, we won’t start with the neighborhood championship. straight up a big thing.”
Georges St-Pierre, Lyoto Machida or closer to us the French Manon Fiorot: the examples of success at the highest level of MMA of athletes from karate are not lacking. But at 25, if Da Costa wants to take the plunge, we can’t wait too long. « It’s in my thinking, confirms the one who would fight in the feathers if he kept his karate category. I’m not going to do it at 40 brooms. It’s now. But making decisions is hard, especially since karate always works for me. It means quitting everything to get into something else because you clearly can’t do both at the same time. »
It would also be necessary, no doubt, to move to Paris to join a « big » room and maximize learning and sparring sessions as quickly as possible. Not ideal for those who feel so at home in Mont-Saint-Martin, in Meurthe-et-Moselle. « In fact, what blocks me the most is that, » he admits. Quite the opposite of the scholarships promised in MMA which would change from a karate where the money does not fall en masse. “You surprise me…”, he laughs. If he thinks about this transition, it is also and above all that his Grail has disappeared. Forever the first. But also the last. On August 5, 2021, in the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Da Costa ignited France and realized his dream by winning the -67 kg final to become the first Olympic champion in the history of karate.
A title that the French fighter will not be able to defend in 2024 in Paris, in his country, his discipline having already been removed from the Olympic program after having integrated it in Japan. The double world champion and double champion has lost his dream of an Olympic double, collateral victim of a decision that he could only suffer. « How do I feel in hindsight? Nothing left. Emptiness. It’s sad but it’s not something we chose so you have no choice but to swallowing. I find it ridiculous and incomprehensible, just like everyone else. No one came to me with an argument that made me say that it was normal. »
Da Costa also did not digest the arguments of the president of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, Tony Estanguet, on this subject: « When you have nothing to say, you are looking for stuff. I don’t have any after him directly but he kept sinking into an indefensible thing. He tried to give unsubstantiated arguments. He sank on his own because it was not valid. » And to conclude like a rant: « Basically, they talked about audience. You’re talking about money and more sport. In a way, you’re killing the Games. It’s a bit spitting in our face while I saw that my final had one of the biggest audiences in Tokyo. What they say is not concrete. They also said they wanted to bring back « younger » sports but karate has 300,000 members just in France and we don’t just have 60-year-olds. If you take my club, young people represent the majority, around 80%.
The arguments are valid. But the decision is confirmed. What demotivate the one who added in November a second world title to his individual record which also has two European crowns? « I won everything and the motivation is no longer the same, he admits. If everything stopped tomorrow, I would be proud of everything I have done. But as long as I am here, it is that I always want to win. I’m no longer hungry to go and get this or that title but to go and set records. If I become world champion again, I’ll become the most successful of all time at this level in France. These few records to seek challenge me a little. And the day when I will no longer have the fangs, when I will not care about being washed in combat, it will be time to stop.
Whether to go into MMA or not, the thing looks difficult. Not for him but for his father, Michel, veteran French champion who came to karate to follow the path taken by his son Logan (the eldest) and followed by the twins Steven and Jessie. « It will be hard to stop the day I’m going to do it because it’s a family thing. It will hurt me compared to my father because he gave everything for us and he loves it too much. He doesn’t there are no taboo subjects at home, I can talk to my parents about everything, but that’s really complicated. As soon as we start a subject, my father tries to change the subject or pretends that he hasn’t heard. He doesn’t want to talk about that. But sport is like the casino, you have to know when to stop. I don’t want to do too many years without winning a single major title. »
“I was almost in burnout”
Between the solicitations of all kinds, the Worlds and the end of year celebrations, Da Costa lived an intense post-Tokyo. The Games, where he was the flag bearer for the closing ceremony, changed his life « a little », both financially and in terms of notoriety. They also offered him the honor of receiving the Legion of Honor. But in January, like many post-Olympic athletes, he experienced Olympic spleen, a form of mental emptiness after months focused on the goal. « It wasn’t depression but I felt it. After the Games, you are overworked. In the end, I was almost in burnout, I slept two hours a night and I ate with a slingshot And once you’ve passed the holidays, it’s emptiness. There’s nothing left. You find yourself almost bored and you return to direct darkness. You feel like you’ve changed dimensions. after the Games but to go back to normal all of a sudden and it’s weird. You’re a superstar for two months and you become a normal person again. I felt it but it didn’t bother me because I mad about notoriety even if it is pleasing. »
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