Mixed martial arts fight nights in Mumbai

One ring, two fighters, over ten forms of combat and 400 spectators. One referee, three rounds, three minutes and it’s done. Move over cricket, fight night has come to Mumbai and there will be blood.

Ever since its formal inception in 1993, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has gripped the world as the fiercest of spectator sports.

Bringing it to India's shores is Prashant Kumar, founder and managing director of Full Contact Championship (FCC), who staged his third fight night at Mehboob Studios last month complete with twelve trained fighters and a fully stocked bar.

Getting the claps

“The response has been extremely positive and the audience rapidly growing,” Kumar says.

It’s not just blood-thirsty teenage guys in the audience. “We have a lot of women who come, and I actually think they enjoy it more than the men. They react more, are more riveted.”

“The audience is always thrilled and loud and cheering,” says Dhiraj, a champion FCC fighter and trainer to movie stars such as Lara Dutta, Preity Zinta, Tabu and Dino Morea.

“For them, it’s like watching an action movie live, with real punches and kicks.”

But getting to this stage took rather more sweat and blood than was shed in the ring.

“I was sure that people would take to the sport instantly because it’s short, quick and easy to understand. The difficult part was building up a stable of fighters and then getting the finance,” says Kumar.

Finding fighters and the financing is the hardest part.

It’s training men

Once he identifies a potential fighter (based on a ton of criteria including body conditioning, strength training tests, flexibility, cardio levels and lung capability), Kumar and his team cross-train the fighter for at least a year, in judo, jujitsu, kickboxing and more.

He has built up a stable of 80 to 100 fighters, 50 of whom have fought competitively already.

According to Nilesh Parab, a 24-year-old MMA fighter from Dadar, who has won three gold medals in state level kick-boxing and is making his debut on March 31 at a FCC Fight Night, you need a lot of “jigar,” or "heart," to succeed at MMA.

“There’s no single form of fighting, so you need to be much braver,” he explains.

The fighters are cross-trained for at least a year, in judo, jujitsu, kickboxing and more.

Punch drunk love

Kumar says that although it looks brutal, MMA is actually a lot less risky than other contact sports.

“For instance, boxing has led to about 1,600 deaths, while in the past 15 years, MMA has caused no fatalities. The worst we’ve seen is a broken nose.”

All MMA fighters are required to wear gum and groin guards, as well as the half-cut MMA gloves, and a host of stringent rules prohibits head-butting, elbow strikes, stomping, fish-hooking and eye-gouging. A fully equipped ambulance and paramedics attend every fight -- the next is slated for March 31.

Eventually, Kumar hopes to take MMA to cities across India and host a fight night every month.

“There’s the market for it, and now I finally have the fighters. All we need is a crowd that enjoys a good rumble,” he says.

Full Contact Championship Facebook page.