AIMMAA’s national amateur event creates history in the Indian MMA world

Event Name: AIMMAA National Amateur Mixed Martial Arts Championship

Venue: Rajiv Gandhi Indoor stadium, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

Date: 30th September, 1st & 2nd October 2016.

India has seen great changes and growth in sports as time has passed. And one of the world’s fastest growing sports – MMA is catching up real fast.

India’s largest and oldest MMA association – the All India Mixed Martial Arts Association (AIMMAA) had an active MMA circuit this year; and to add to the episode of events was the AIMMAA Nationals, which was the third among the three big Amateur Events of the year, crossing double century participants.

AIMMAA has been promoting MMA from 2004 and is the only National Association which is internationally affiliated to International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF), the international governing body for amateur MMA, launched with the support of market leader, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Due to the active regional heads, the sport of MMA has been included in the police games in parts of North East India and Sports For All event in Western India. Sports For All is a first-of-its-kind organization set out to revolutionise the way India plays inter-school sports and inter-college sports.

The National event was organised by an AIMMAA Affiliated state- Association of Mixed Martial Arts Karnataka (AMMAK), in association with FitPro- a AIMMAA recognized training centre in India.

Event commission members comprised of Core AIMMAA Committee- Alan Fenandes, Prasad Gaitonde, Sharif Bapu and Samuel Lalrozâma Hmar, 3 of whom were IMMAF Technical Officials at the world championships.

The AIMMAA nationals witnessed 200+ participation from 26 states & union territories, which indicates the significant growth of MMA in India.

Bringing 26 states and UTs was a feat of history in itself, as there have been very few cases wherein these many states have come together in the past for MMA.

Few of the states are in remote and terrain areas that it take 3-4 days of travel by train. State Association and FitPro sponsored six athletes who could not afford their fees and costs involved in food, travelling and accommodation. Some of the state Chief delegates also walked the extra mile to sponsor their state students.

Line up during the opening ceremony

Introduction and welcome speech

Safety of the event was one major priority. As per AIMMAA standard, all the athletes had submitted their pre-fight medical report, and on the event day the Medical team comprising an Orthopedician, a Sports Injury specialist, a General Physician along with paramedic staff and life support ambulance were present.

Also, as AIMMAA utilised the services of the most experienced officials in India, the amateur athletes were treated with utmost care, on technical grounds. A team of professional doctors and paramedics, along with trained officials took great care of the fighters.

As the sport grows in the country, the need for more and more trained officials increase. So, to prepare new officials and refresh the old ones regarding their skills, a referee and judge seminar was held prior to the event, by Prasad and Samuel. New officials were given a chance in the event under the guidance of seniors.

No serious causalities were reported, except some minor cuts and KOs which were taken care of immediately. The Chief Guests for the event were Savitha Mayanna Gowda, Srinagar Corporator and Mayanna Gowda, Social worker & BJP party member.

Technical Officials

Medals were awarded, as per IMMAF norms to the top 4 athletes (1 Gold, 1 Silver & 2 bronze) in each category and total of 13 categories we drawn. Special trophies were awarded to the champion state, best team and the best fighter. All the Affiliated and Non-Affiliated States, including many Clubs across India were invited to the tournament.

The qualiy of athletes on an average was much improved and this event saw some emerging talents who dominated the trailing champions. The host state, Karnataka, was the leading state in overall medal tally. There was an overwhelming response from the crowd and the stadium was jam packed.

The event was covered by news channels and the incident made most state newspapers, making AIMMAA Nationals the talk of the town.

After noticing the development of the sport under AIMMAA, sponsors are gradually increasing in number. Even for this event, food supplement company Corebolics and combat equipment company USI came forward to sponsor the event.

Continuing it’s streak of promoting talented, yet needy fighters, AIMMAA has made an announcement to sponsor 5 good fighters from this event for the AIMMAA sanctioned next big event- The BodyPower MMA Open in January 2017.

The Fly weight finals (Karnataka v/s Mizoram)

Ground and pound

When asked about the event, Alan Fernandez, national coach said the following:

“AIMMAA has and always been committed to the development of MMA and the growth of athletes from day one and this event is a testament of that commitment. Our endevour is to develop the sport from the grassroot level is paying off and soon we will have the best athletes from India staking claims for medals at the world level. AIMMAA is all about Team work and its chiefs and all officials are proficient and know their job responsibilities!”

Sharif Bapu, National working committee President also described the ground-breaking event saying, “In this Nationals, we saw new talent from various states of the country looking to take on the World MMA amateur circuit by surprise. The AIMMAA Amateur National 2016 was one of the highlights in the history of Indian MMA Sports.”

“Where more than 200 Fighters from 22 States & officials from 26 states were a part of this epic championship. Overall, as the NWC President, I was myself mesmerized by the flow of event as around 100 bouts per day took place smoothly on both days. The standard of fighters & their enthusiasm to show their skill was amazing. The future of Indian MMA is beyond imagination,” he added.

Prasad Gaitonde, NWC General Secretary said, “India has got both volume and value-based talent. With the talent that we have, we are confident of grabbing a medal at the World championship soon. The only thing stopping us is the cost involved, and getting sponsorships.”

Furthermore Gaitonde said, “The last South African open, where an Indian athlete fought hard against the IMMAF no. 1 from Sweden was just the beginning. India has around 100+ known MMA training centres, many of which are sourcing trainers from abroad. Good training – the main purpose for which people used to travel abroad is now made available in India. As an association, AIMMAA is backing the sports to get recognition. With the pace and development happening in India the days are not far when Indian MMA will make a place at landmark at world level.”

Saad Khayoom, Director of FitPro (the co-organizer): “The event's massive success in terms of participation and quality of the tournament was FitPro's primary goal and we are pleased to have achieved that. We have now planned for further tournaments and events not just in MMA, but specifically Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.”

Khayoom also said that FitPro is going to launch training programs to be conducted in the North-East and across India, by renowned national and international coaches and athletes.

Samuel Lalrozâma, National Amateur Referee Commission Chairman said, “On the technical aspect, working under seniors like Alan sir, and with one of my best colleague- Mr. Prasad who is one of the most experienced judges in the country has boosted my morale higher. Talent goes to waste if it is not harnessed, and here we have people to groom that talent. I have seen leaders, coaches, state heads coming up to support poor talented fighters. Even though the pioneer of MMA and commissioner of AIMMAA Mr. Daniel was not present for the event, his guidance has made his dream and the dreams of many a success.”

The RNC

AIMMAA has been organizing and sanctioning events all over the country, throughout the year and has sent fighters ti international platforms, such as the follows:

National:

• BodyPower India Open MMA Championship, Mumbai (International event)

• AIMMAA nationals grappling Championship, Mumbai (National event)

• AIMMAA NATIONALS, Bangalore (National event)

• Bangalore Open MMA Championship (National event)

• SFL 47, Delhi (Fight Night)

• SFL 48, Pune (Fight Night)

• JSJ Fight league, Mizoram (Fight Night)

• Kerala Fight Night, Kozhikode (Fight Night)

International:

• IMMAF All African open, South Africa

• IMMAF world Championship, USA

• CFC 1 - The Cedar Force, Lebanon

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Medal Tally State Wise:

Sl. No.		State & UT		Gold		Silver		Bronze
1		Karnataka		5		4		4
2		Maharashtra		2		3		5
3		Assam		2		-		-
4		Kerala		1		1		1
5		Telangana		1		-		1
6		Mizoram				2		1
7		Uttarakhand		1		-		-
8		Tamil Nadu		1		-		-
9		Rajasthan		-		1		2
10		Delhi		-		-		2
11		Odisha		-		-		2
12		Goa		-		1		-
13		Punjab		-		1		-
14		Chhattisgarh		-		-		1
15		Meghalaya		-		-		1
16		Gujarat		-		-		1
17		UP		-		-		1
18		J&K		-		-		1
19		Madhya Pradesh		-		-		-
20		Bihar		-		-		-
21		West Bengal		-		-		-
22		Andhra Pradesh		-		-		-
	Female Straw Weight Category
Gold			Robina Laskar		Assam
Silver			Nitu Kumari		Rajasthan
Bronze			Meenakshi Chandl		Chhattisghar
Female Fly Weight Category
Gold			Nishighandha Rao		Maharashtra-A
Silver			Priyadarsini Ghatuary		Odisha
Bronze			Saloni Avhad		Maharashtra-B
Female Bantam Weight Category
Gold			Ritika Poojary		Maharashtra
Silver			Thulasie		Karnataka
Bronze			Anshika		Rajasthan
Female Open Weight Category
Gold			Divya		Karnataka-A
Silver			Nishighandha Rao		Maharashtra-A
Bronze			Ritika Poojary		Maharashtra-B
Bronze			Thulasie		Karnataka-B
Men’s Straw Weight Category
Gold			Vishnu ks		Kerala
Silver			Darshan M R		Karnataka-A
Bronze			Naveen Shetty		Karnataka-B
Bronze			Amareshwar		Odisha
Men’s Fly Weight Category
Gold			Shiva Raj B		Karnataka
Silver			PMS Dawngliana		Mizoram
Bronze			Amareswar swain		Odisha
Bronze			Anastasius Ryndongsngi		Meghalaya
Men’s Bantam Weight Category
Gold			Surya Negi		Uttarakhand
Silver			Sadashiv		Karnataka
Bronze			Pankaj Kumar		J&K
Bronze			Lalramdinthara		Mizoram
Men’s Feather Weight Category
Gold			Priyanku Saikia		Assam
Silver			Sreedev cp		Kerala
Bronze			Rohit Sudhir Yadav		Maharashtra
Bronze			Virendra Kumar Baghel		UP
Men’s Light Weight Category
Gold			Sunil		Telengana
Silver			Abhijit Kundu		Karnataka
Bronze			Dipankar bajaj		Delhi
Bronze			Akshay Baburaj		Kerala
Men’s Welter Weight Category
Gold			Gokul Kesavan		Karnataka
Silver			Mehdi shah		Maharashtra-A
Bronze			Suraj		Maharashtra-B
Bronze			Vijay Saini		Delhi
Men’s Middle Weight Category
Gold			Muhammed Sanoob		Karnataka
Silver			Rahul Gogoi		Punjab
Bronze			VINIT DESAI		Gujrath
Bronze			HIMANSHU YADAV		Maharashtra
Men’s Light Heavy Weight Category
Gold			Prabhu		Tamilnadu
Silver			Sailo		Mizoram
Bronze			Aravind V		Karnataka
Bronze			Parvinder Singh		Rajasthan
Men’s Heavy Weight Category
Gold			Muhammed Zulkharnain beig		Karnataka-A
Silver			Alroy Rodrigues		Goa
Bronze			J mani ratnam		Telangana
Bronze			Karthik		Karnataka-B

Many upcoming talents were to be seen from all corners of India

The chief guest felicitating AIMMAA officials

The heavy weight finals (Goa v/s Karnataka)

FitPro (The co-organizer and main sponsors) team in the Mizoram TV news channel