Exclusive: Uloomi Karim speaks about the rise of Pakistan in MMA, BRAVE 17 and more

Pakistani MMA star Uloomi Karim is a well rounded MMA fighter with some great striking prowess. This combatant who fights out of Gilgit-Baltistan is not only well rounded in MMA but also in life and is a computer wizard. He iss also the bassist for an alternative rock band based in Islamabad.

Uloomi Karim is a popular name among the Indian MMA fraternity after he beat India’s undefeated Yadwinder Singh at World Series of Fighting Global Championship (WSOF-GC) bout held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in the Philippines back in July 2016.

This victory made this talented fighter a fan favourite and gave him immense popularity in Pakistan, something unprecedented for MMA fighters in Pakistan at that time. Uloomi, along with his elder brother Ehtisham Karim and coach Ali Sultan of Fight Fortress Islamabad were the prime reasons for the growth and rise of the sports of mixed martial arts in Pakistan.

The Bahrain based global MMA promotion BRAVE CF is to host the first global MMA event in Pakistan on 27th October in the Nishtar Park Sports Complex in Lahore. The Brave 17 event will take place under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

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I got an opportunity to speak with Uloomi Karim ahead of his fight against the BRAVE CF veteran Jeremy Pacatiw in the BRAVE 17 card. We covered various topics including Pacatiw's striking, the victory against Yadwinder Singh, a potential "India Vs Pakistan" MMA matchup and more. Here are the excerpts of our conversation.

BRAVE 17 is the first global MMA event in Lahore. How big is this for MMA in Pakistan?

Being the first ever global MMA event coming to Pakistan, this not only opens doors and sets example to many organizations to host shows in this country but also gives a huge hope to the local athletes to showcase their talent in front of the whole world.

In Pakistan and the Indian subcontinent at large, cricket is the ubiquitous sport. But Pakistan has recently produced some world-class MMA talents. Is it fair to say that MMA will break Pakistan's cricket's hegemony in the coming years or at least be a close second?

I personally think that India and Pakistan are producing some really amazing talents in MMA. Yes, Pakistan has been privileged in this manner that, we have more guys who are fighting Internationally who are Pakistan based but India, on the other hand, has a lot of fighters who are based in Singapore I think, or Malaysia, who are fighting in big leagues.

Or from different countries, like Garry Mangat who is based in Canada or Hardeep Rai who is based in the United Kingdom. But I think the Pakistani MMA scene is going pretty fast because of all the Pakistani mixed martial artists who were born and raised abroad and are in the field of MMA. They came to Pakistan and contributed their fair share to the small community that we had. And Alhamdullilah the community is growing bigger.

As far as cricket is concerned, I don't think MMA will ever take cricket's place because it has been engraved in Indians' and Pakistanis' brains, even in the blood, mind, and heart of Indians and Pakistanis. But yes, MMA can be the second biggest sport in the subcontinent.

I really hope and wish for MMA to be the first place but the reality and the fact of the matter is that it can never surpass cricket because it's been hugely invested in and it's a squads game whereas MMA is a one mans game even though the entire team is preparing the fighter. But the nature of MMA, since it's fight business, I don't think it will ever replace cricket in the first place. But I would really wish to see that.

Jeremy Pacatiw is a BRAVE veteran and he is coming off a big win against Keith Lee (brother of UFC star Kevin Lee) at BRAVE 14. What special preparation have been taken in your camp to deal with this well-rounded fighter? And what are your predictions for this fight?

First off, I personally didn't know Keith Lee was the brother of Kevin Lee. But, that doesn't matter, Keith Lee is a brother of Kevin Lee or Demetrios Johnson, doesn't matter. Who is the brother of who, that doesn't matter... Who is the fighter? That is what matters the most.

You can be the brother or son of the greatest of all time, but that doesn't credit to your credentials. Having said that, yes Jeremy Pacatiw is a pretty tough competition. I have been watching his fight since the very beginning of the BRAVE. Before even I had an idea of Uloomi Karim fighting Jeremy Pacatiw.

Fight business is business, It's as real as it gets and you can't say anything until you are there. But, of course, keeping his fighting style in mind, keeping all odds in this fight. We have prepared for this fight. We have given it all. You can never be a hundred percent but it's just that, I feel very much prepared for this fight. It's all in the head, it's all the mindset.

"Fireworks, baby. Fireworks." 🔥- @uloomi 🇵🇰 | #BraveCF17 #MMA #Pakistan @FightFortress pic.twitter.com/VRk3a0BHDO
— BRAVE CF (@bravemmaf) October 24, 2018

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I have the experience, he has the experience. He is a hard hitting guy, he is a very good stand-up specialist and my expertise is in stand-up as well. He has good wrestling. I think this would be the perfect test for my skills because I think this would be my biggest striking test or by far this probably would be the toughest striker that I ever faced.

And Alhamdulillah my training camp for this fight has been amazing, I have trained with some amazing "Beasts" in Fight Fortress gym like Zia Mashwani and Najam Khan who will be fighting on the same card. We are looking for a finish and we are not going to leave it to the judges. I always say that "it's going to be fireworks" But this time it's actually going to be fireworks because both of like to exchange. So I expect a finish within two rounds, Inshallah!

How was it to grow up as a martial arts enthusiast in Gilgit-Baltistan? Some of the best martial artists we know today are from treacherous mountain regions. Can the Northern areas of Pakistan be the next "Dagestan" for MMA?

Gilgit-Baltistan has been one of the prime regions to produce athletes from extreme sports, .be it mountain climbing or now martial arts as well. It's kind of hard to compare it with "Dagestan" because those guys focus a lot on their sports. They have good wrestling coaches there... those guys are all about martial arts, they are all about producing athletes. This side, in Gilgit-Baltistan, we are more about education.

Our inclination is towards educating our youth and growing in every form. MMA is now getting a lot of hype in the Northern areas as well, because of all the martial artists from the Northern areas, be it Haider Farman or myself or my sister (Anita Karim) who fought in ONE Championship Warrier Series. She set an example for all the girls over there. We can't really compare it to Dagestan but yes, there will be one day when all of us will be saying that Gilgit- Baltistan will be the next "Dagestan" for MMA.

It's always huge whenever there is an "India Vs Pakistan" match-up in cricket or hockey or any other sport. And your last victory was against an Indian fighter. How good was the response back home?

I actually expected this one to be honest (chuckles). I knew that this kind of a question will come up because no matter how much we try to press it down between India and Pakistan, any event between India and Pakistan, be it cricket or a kabaddi league or hockey match, most importantly an MMA fight, because it's a fist fight so this would get again more fame and popularity among any other sports.

So yes, my win against Yadwinder Singh got a lot of hype, you know media has always something to sell out. They actually kind off oversold the story, which is actually good.

The positive thing that I took from that was that people started getting educated about the sport of MMA and they got the message that I wanted to give out, i.e "Peace through sports". We all know we have borders, we all know we have Armies fighting at our border. But there are so many people in both the countries that don't know about the good sides of both the sides.

Whenever I go to Thailand for training, two of my best friends who trained with me are from India and people need to know about it and I was so happy to tell people about my Indian best friends and how much love I got from those two and how Indians and Pakistanis can be loving to each other.

So my highlight was that the media was just another resource for me to bridge the gap between these two nations and make an effort to bring these two nations closer, be it through an Interview or be it through a fist fight. I won't say that I won a fight with an Indian, but I mean, we both won that fight.

Regardless of the decision of the fight, regardless of the decision or the outcome of that fight. In that fight (WSOF Global Championship 3, Philippines) peace won because we raised each other's flags.

I raised India's flag and Yadwinder Singh, mad props to him, hats off to that guy, he is a very very tough fighter and Mashallah he has a very bright future, Inshallah. And I hope and wish him the best of luck. And he raised Pakistans flag and both of us chanted "peace through sports" and the politics need to be on the borders only.

BRAVE 21 is scheduled to happen in India this December. As we said, fans from both sides would love an India-Pakistan matchup. It would be easier for the matchmakers if you were to call out someone from the other side. So, which Indian fighter would you like to take on next?

Bro, to be honest, I don't think I see that ever happening in the next 3-4 years because of the tension between the two governments. I don't think an Indian fighter can come to Pakistan to fight or a Pakistani fighter can come to India, as much as I love coming to India and fight there.

I really wish and hope it happens but I don't see that happening anytime soon. My eyes are all set to this fight for now. I haven't really hunted down or really made a list of opponents now because I'm focused on this fight.

In December 2018, India will host the Brave Combat Federation for the second time.

But whatever BRAVE has to offer, if BRAVE thinks I am good enough to stay on their card and fight anyone else, I'll be here and I think that's about it because I don't think that India Vs Pakistan will be a bad matchup actually.

Now that since you have said, I've actually started thinking about it (chuckles). But yes, I would like to comment on this after the fight, when I have my head clear and when I have other thoughts on my mind I have no tunnelled vision on this fight. So I hope I answer this question after this fight and I hope I don't disappoint the MMA fans.