From 16th to 19th December, MMAFI Mixed Martial Arts Federation, India, successfully conducted the National Federation MMA Championship, 2021 in Mumbai. It was supported by the Maharashtra Mixed Martial Arts Association of Mumbai (MMACSF). Over 12 States and 2 Union Territories participated in this event.
MMAFI President and Organizer Sensei Mayur Bansode said the Federation is overwhelmed by the response of athletes and officials. A major part of Maharashtra and Telangana worked relentlessly to make this event a success
Leading up to the Championship, we were worried that the government could bring in regulations anytime because of the new variant of COVID19 and the rising cases of the Omicron virus. However, we are grateful to our local police authority and BMC for their support for this event. Special thanks to Modern English School Management, Chembur, Mumbai, and MLA Shri. Prakash Phaterpekar for giving us the confidence to conduct this event. We conducted weigh-ins and medical check-ups of over 100 athletes on Day 1 (16th Dec.) to ensure we have followed all health & safety regulations for the well-being of the athletes.
The Athletes were charged Rs. 2000/- registration fees which included a complete medical check-up (HIV, Hepatitis B & C, CBC, and Lipid Profile Check) with MMAFI National Athlete T-Shirt.
The bouts were placed and timed in such a manner that athletes had enough time to rest before their next bout.
On Day 2 (17th Dec.), we began the qualifying rounds and the road to Semi-Final bouts at the school open ground, which was a closed-door event. The finals were held at a different location.
The Grand Finale was hosted at Priyadarshini Sports Complex, Mulund. The event was attended by 400+ people and had over 70 guests; we ensured social distancing was followed. No one was allowed at the event without a mask. The athletes always remained separated from the audience as per MMAFI’s safety protocol.
All the finalists were given locker rooms and training spots for warm-up and preparation for their bouts on the 1st floor at the venue. Though this arrangement increased production costs, we wanted to ensure the safety of athletes.
We are thankful to Dr. Dipesh Choubesa for sponsoring medical tests and grateful to SRV Hospital for coming on board as a hospital partner.
There was tremendous joy amongst all athletes and the audience to see our Brand Ambassador Prateik Babbar his friends Siddharth Kher, Priya Bannerjee and Asha Negi at the event.
More guests were present, such as Aga Abbas Rizvi (Executive councilor from Ladakh) and Bhushan Lal Dogra (Ex-Minister J & K). They specially came to Mumbai to witness the action at MMAFI National Championship and support athletes from their states.
Shuja Ali ( President of K1L ) and Shlok Rathod, and MP Manoj Kotak gave our events the luster by attending the finals and distributed medals to winners.
MMAFI’s organizing committee decided to give Title belts to the winners of the category, which had more than 16 athletes and anyone of the category for girls. It was the first time athletes were honored by a National Championship Belt at an Amateur event. Even the finalist’s entry to the cage was done on music just like a pro-fighter; after all, the effort required is the same either in a professional or an amateur bout.
We sold the tickets for the finals; we believed that we should create value for the sports and city like Mumbai, where 100s of events takes place over the weekend; we
sold 400 tickets which cost Rs 500/- per ticket, which is an excellent sign for sports. It is an encouraging sign for MMA sports in India that people are ready to pay for the love of athletes and the sport itself.
Towards the end of the finals, MMAFI organized two pro bouts just to take action up a notch. Again, we received a tremendous response on it.
As an organizer, we are happy that the MMAFI team and the athletes, with their coaches who participated, had put in the extra effort to make this event a success.
The feedback from the audience, the organizing committee, the athletes filled our hearts with joy & pride.
The two months’ worth of planning & preparation paid off well! Now really soon, MMAFI will announce its new plan, which will change the scenario of MMA sports in India.
Stand up MMA
Male
52.2 Kg Straw Weight
Akash Deb Purkayastha – winner
Santosh Chouhan – runners up
3rd Place
Akbar Ali
Bobby Vishwakarma
56.7 Fly Weight
Nayan Das – winner
Biswajyoti Das – runners up
3rd place
Mohd. Hossain
Kunal Sinha
70.5 Kg Light Weight
Joyal Peter D’Souza – winner
Devansh Singh – runners up
77.1 Kg Welter Weight
Biplob Das – winner
Sami Sayed – runners up
79.4 Kg Super Welter Weight
Murtaza Ali – Winner
Hitesh Ranawade – runners up
Super Light Weight
Chandresh Kumar Ananddeo Mishra – Winner
Saish Satish Shetty – runners up
Super wt
Hitesh Ranawde
Vedant Dayal Parab
Female
Bantam Weight
Maulika Sharma – winner
Yukta S Moolya – runners up
Amateur MMA
Male
52.2 Kg Straw weight
Dhruv Shirodkar – Winner
Akash Rajendra Kumar Saroj – runners up
3rd place
Rajjab Ali Nababuddin Qureshi
Ismail Munir Chunawala
56.7 Kg Fly Weight
Mohd. Zubair – Winner
Labin James – runners up
Bantam
Shaikh Anas – Winner
Sharif Ahmed – runners up
65.8 Kg Feather Weight
Nishant Karkera – Winner
Parth Sangle – runners up
Welter weight
Zakir Hussain Siddiqui
Ishaan Shubhangi Ghadke
79.4 Super Welter Weight
Rohan Salwan – Winner
Ishan Ghadge – runners up
Super Light Weight
Bishal Singha
Adnan Anjum Khan
Female
Bantam Weight
Sneha Sawant – Winner
Reshma Sakpal – runners up
Ruthi Lalawmpui Aimol – Winner
Takusenla Imtingangnan – runners up
Pro Bouts
Catch Weight (80 Kgs)
Sagnick Gupta – Winner
Ragunandan – Lost
Welter Weight(77.1 Kgs)
Abhijeet Petkar – Winner
Mehdi Nasirey – Lost
