Srinagar, Dec 26: A Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter from South Kashmir’s Pulwama district has brought laurels while representing India and defeating Kazakhstan’s Amanzhol Khaisa in the lightweight category at the Naiza Fighting Championship (NFC).
Owais Yaqoob from the Murran area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district defeated his opponent in a fight held at the Abay Arena in Semey, Kazakhstan.
Speaking to a local news agency, Owais said that he was the only player from India to take part in the fight in Kazakhstan. He said that he had defeated his opponent in all three rounds within five minutes each by dominating all the rounds.
He said that a win is always special and this was the first win outside India, so it is more special as it will boost the global ranking.
In March 2024, he defeated Afghanistan’s Mohammad Azam Mokhlis at Matrix Fight Night (MFN 14) in Noida.
Owais was representing India and by winning the game, he brought happiness to the faces of all Indians, especially Kashmiris and he was warmly welcomed at his native village.
By winning at the international level, Owais has proved that Kashmir is full of talent but they need proper platform and guidance.
Owais added that “such wins encourage you further to do more hard work and prove your mettle in your upcoming events as well.”
Notably, Owais signed a three-year contract with MFN in January 2023 and made a professional debut on 31 March 2023.
Owais said since 2015 he has taught over 200 youth the different forms of martial arts and among them, many have represented J&K at the national level and even won gold medals.
He said that to stay away from drug and anti-social activities, there is a need to get youth involved in sports and martial arts and to teach the youth of Pulwama district and keep them away from drugs, he has come up with an academy namely Lion’s Den.
Owais said that he has been very passionate about martial arts since childhood and since 2013 he started taking part in competitions. In 2013, in their very first competition, he managed to bag a gold medal based on which he got the opportunity to represent J&K at the national level where he won many medals.
“After playing at the national level at various places, I joined mixed martial arts camping with different coaches in different states of India and won medals where I got an opportunity to represent the erstwhile state of J&K,” he added.
“I have won 11 gold medals at the national level, six silver medals, and 17 gold medals at the state level and officials at All India Mixed Martial Art Federation had declared me as the second best mixed martial arts player of India,” he added.
“Besides medals, based on my performance, I have received titles like ‘Best Fighter Boy’ in 28 states besides “Champion of Champions” in 2018 in Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.
Owais is the first professional MMA player from Kashmir who secured a place at Matrix Fight Night (MFN).
He said that youth must engage themselves in sports activities as it will help them to stay healthy MMA is a real fight game and if one works hard, he can represent his state or country at mega stages. (With KNO inputs)
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