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| Where Is Netflix’s The Arena Filmed? All Filming Locations Revealed. |
Netflix’s The Arena was filmed mainly in France, around Reims, with additional footage shot in Thailand, giving the MMA reality competition a setting that feels rather appropriate for a show built around cages, combat and a €100,000 prize. Originally titled L’arène, the French series puts 38 amateur fighters — 19 men and 19 women — through a demanding Fight Camp overseen by MMA names Ciryl Gane, Cédric Doumbè and Benoît Saint Denis. So, naturally, the production needed somewhere considerably more dramatic than a television studio with a few rubber mats thrown on the floor.
The bulk of The Arena’s filming took place in and around Reims, in north-eastern France. Production reportedly got under way around June 2025 and continued for several weeks, turning parts of the region into the backdrop for the competition. Reims gives the series a distinctly French identity while also offering a mixture of urban locations and large-scale spaces suitable for a reality show where contestants are expected to spend rather a lot of time fighting one another.
A particularly important location was the former Reims–Champagne Air Base, located in Bétheny, roughly four miles north of Reims. The former French Air and Space Force site provided the space needed for the production to build the Arena itself, where contestants face the show's physical challenges, head-to-head encounters and cage fights. It is a suitably industrial setting for the programme, and certainly more convincing than pretending an ordinary television soundstage is some secret MMA compound.
The air base also makes practical sense for a production of this scale. A competition involving dozens of fighters, coaches, crew and large fight areas requires plenty of room, while the site's former military character gives the programme an appropriately stark backdrop. In other words, contestants arriving at the Arena were not exactly being welcomed into a five-star wellness retreat.
Reims itself also appears around the production, with the city providing visual material for establishing and aerial sequences. Several recognisable landmarks are associated with the show's filming, including Porte de Mars, Place Royale, Hôtel de Ville, Place Drouet-d’Erlon and Notre-Dame de Reims. These locations give viewers glimpses of the historic city beyond the competition grounds and help establish where the French production is rooted.
That contrast is one of the more interesting aspects of The Arena’s filming locations. Reims is known for its architectural heritage and connection to Champagne, while the show is concerned with amateur fighters attempting to survive increasingly demanding challenges. One minute the scenery can suggest grand French history; the next, someone is being told to get back into the cage. Television does enjoy its contrasts.
The production also travelled to Thailand for additional filming. The choice is hardly random. Thailand has a deep connection with combat sports, particularly Muay Thai, and its martial-arts culture provides an obvious visual and thematic fit for a programme centred on MMA fighters. The country has also been used extensively as a filming destination for action productions, making it a familiar location for filmmakers who need fight choreography, training environments and dramatic landscapes.
Thailand therefore adds another layer to The Arena’s production, taking the show beyond its principal French setting. While Reims provides the main base for the competition, Thailand brings a location with an established martial-arts identity. It is difficult to imagine a more straightforward excuse for a reality series about fighting to put cameras there.
The use of both countries also reflects the show's broader concept. The Arena is not simply about winning individual fights. The 38 contestants are placed in a competitive Fight Camp where physical ability and mental resilience are tested through different challenges. Their ultimate target is €100,000 and the opportunity to secure a professional MMA contract with a major league, meaning the locations become part of a larger journey rather than simply attractive scenery between bouts.
There is also something fitting about the production choosing an old military air base for its central competition. The site already carries the visual language of discipline, training and controlled pressure, while the surrounding Reims locations soften the harder edges of the series. Thailand then brings the martial-arts connection full circle. It is a fairly deliberate mixture, rather than the usual reality-TV trick of putting contestants in a luxury villa and calling it an experiment in human behaviour.
My take is that The Arena’s locations sound considerably more interesting than the standard reality-show setup. Reims is an especially curious choice because it gives the production a strong French character without making the whole thing look like a tourism advert. The former air base is the real standout: turning an old military site into a purpose-built MMA arena gives the competition a sense of place that a generic studio simply could not provide.
Thailand makes sense too, particularly because the series is so closely tied to combat sports. There is a slight irony in watching fighters chase a life-changing professional opportunity while the cameras move between a former air base, historic French streets and the home of Muay Thai. But that mix is exactly what makes the production visually distinctive. The Arena clearly understands that where fighters compete can be almost as important as who wins the fight.
So, if you were wondering where The Arena on Netflix was filmed, the main answer is Reims and the surrounding area in France, with the former Reims–Champagne Air Base in Bétheny serving as the key competition location, while Thailand was used for additional filming.
The combination gives the French MMA reality series a setting that is part sports camp, part historic city and part international fight trip. Which location would you most like to see in person — the old air base Arena, the streets of Reims or Thailand’s martial-arts backdrop? Share your pick and let us know what you think of the show’s unusual filming choices.