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Members of the Indian MMA community have had a spring in their step since 2016. During the time I’ve covered the sport, I’ve stressed the importance of transparency and investigative journalism - the ability of any reporter to verify their sources. While that is still lacking, 2016 proved to be a decent year for the Indian fighters.
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“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past”, a verse in the Bible says, and that’s an approach we need to take in 2017. Promotions and promoters love good publicity, and social media and a couple of websites have proved to be the catharsis.
Inherently, comparing the state of Indian MMA to that in other countries is a fallacy; the sport is still in its nascency, but taking a cautious approach should be the top priority.
Super Fight League makes its comeback
2017 is already shaping up to be an exciting year for the Indian fighters. “New year, new us” seems to be the motto of Super Fight League, which will begin later this month.
While the league format presents a few challenges, mostly regarding the fighters’ safety and their ability to fight thrice in a three-week period, it could also give the promotion the opportunity to exorcise its demons.
SFL, backed by Bill Dosanjh, needs to set precedence for other promotions. One should embrace mistakes as a source of learning, and SFL needs to be cautious not to fall into the same old traps - the caveat that comes with a niche sport.
The promotion has been open about its past mistakes, and the next 45 days will tell us how much they’ve learnt from their errors in the past few years.
Invicta FC and the realisation of a dream
2016 saw an Indian fighter compete in Invicta FC, becoming the first Indian fighter to fight on UFC Fight Pass. The President of Invicta FC, Shannon Knapp told us during our previous few conversations, that she wanted to bring more Indian fighters to the promotion.
The Indian market presents a challenging, yet alluring proposition for MMA organisations and Invicta FC understands the importance of targeting the Indian audience, as they continue to grow.
Other organisations, including ONE Championship and Bellator MMA, have discussed the possibility of entering the country by 2018. This is a realistic target, considering the Indian market would mature and evolve, and be more open to the introduction of unarmed combat sports in a years’ time.
As a country with rich history and culture in martial arts, India should ideally be on the same level as China and Japan. However, in reality, the Indian market is still lagging behind most Asian countries.
Indian fighters and the need for awareness
For years, it was believed that the Indian fighters were either too shy or scared to speak about the atrocities being committed by promoters. It is still a norm for a promotion to add superfluous clauses in a fighter’s contract, even prohibiting the fighters from talking to the media.
In this day and age, the fighters have the right, as they should, to turn down a contract with such terms and conditions.
If given the opportunity, every promotion/promoter would be more than willing to plug their own fighters, lie about their gyms or about how much they pay the fighters. In the past couple of months itself, I’ve talked to a few fighters, who were candid about their respective managers, and how they nearly destroyed their careers.
As we enter 2017, and with it the dawn of a new era in Indian MMA, it is important for the fighters themselves to be aware of the existing opportunities, and also the negatives that exist, much like in any other sport. But as we move on to a better tomorrow, there is a sense of optimism; a feeling that the sport now has a fighting chance to grow and evolve in the country.
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