My Journey with Mixed Martial Arts in India

Mohammed "The Hawk" Shahid

2012-02-20T02:05:00.000-08:00

Chaitanya "Dangerous" Gavali

2012-02-20T02:03:00.000-08:00

Buy Tickets for SFL # 1

2012-02-11T06:22:00.000-08:00

Click on the above image to buy tickets

"Sky is the Limit when your formula is faith , integrity and patience and your output is blood sweat and tears"

2012-02-07T13:53:00.000-08:00

"Sky is the Limit when your formula is faith , integrity and patience and your output is blood sweat and tears" Daniel Isaac COO Super Fight League

Daniel Isaac gets onboard SFL as COO

2012-01-30T23:25:00.000-08:00

My Silence Broken finally ...

2012-01-30T23:20:00.000-08:00

MMA in India is now the Super Fight League

2012-01-18T01:26:00.000-08:00

MMA hits mainstream audience in India

2012-01-17T01:19:00.000-08:00

I Love you Dad ... See you soon

2011-12-18T04:32:00.000-08:00

IN LOVING MEMORY OF SOLOMON ISAAC
The legend has passed on ... to a better place
1942-2011

MAIN EVENT- GYMWARS 13 : Sachin Bhat (Mangalore) vs Bhanji Mahida (Mumbai)

2011-12-07T00:45:00.000-08:00

MAIN EVENT- GYMWARS 13
Sachin Bhat (Mangalore) vs Bhanji Mahida (Mumbai)
Referee: Jitendra Khare

The main event of the Gymwars 13 was the highly anticipated bout between Sachin Bhat, 2nd Dan Black belt in Aikido and Bhanji Mahida, a veteran boxer and coach/owner of South Paw boxing club in Mumbai. This was, what everyone thought, to be the classic Grappler versus Striker fight with both fighters being coaches and veterans at their respective disciplines.

Round 1: Both fighters touch gloves. Sachin with an orthodox stance and Bhanji in a south paw stance keeping his guard very low. Sachin connects early with a right low kick to the inner thigh of the lead leg of Bhanji forcing him to drop his guard even lower. Sachin immediately follows up with a right head kick which connects to Bhanji's temple and drops him to the mat. Sachin then follows him to the mat and drops a right hand. Referee Jitendra Khare has seen enough and jumps in and stops the fight.

Result: Sachin Bhat wins by KO at 14 secs of round # 1.
KnockOut of the event and fastest KO in Gymwars history.

Fight Summary by India's leading MMA referee , the AMMAI's "Big" Jitendra Khare

CO-MAIN EVENT- GYM WARS 13 : Manjit Kolekar (Mumbai) vs Ritika Singh (Thane)

2011-12-07T00:23:00.000-08:00

Manjit Kolekar (Mumbai) vs Ritika Singh (Thane)
FIRST WOMENS' MMA BOUT IN GYMWARS

The co-main event of the Gymwars 13 was the first ever womens' MMA bout at Gym wars featuring Manjit Kolekar, a boxer from South Paw boxing club in Mumbai & Ritika Singh from Evolution MMA Mumbai. Ritika who had just returned after winning a Silver medal for India at a martial arts championship held in Iran, had picked up an injury during the competition in Iran. She insisted on taking this bout against the advice of her coaches to pull out of the card and recover fully first.

Manjit however is a highly decorated amateur boxer from Mumbai who has recently started mma training.

Round 1: Ritika starts with an orthodox stance and Manjit maintaining a south paw stance. Ritika throws a a right low kick to the inner thigh of the lead leg of Manjit but Manjit answers with a left cross. Ritika throws a leg kick again and Manjit counters well with a Jab cross combination forcing Ritika to cover up and clinch her. Ritika takes down Manjit from the clinch and lands up in her guard. Manjit is sucessful in sweeping Ritika as she attempts to move to a full mount position. Manjit scrambles away and asks the Referee to stand Ritika up. Action restarts standing and after a few inneffective strikes, Manjit catches Ritika in a clinch and takes her down to the mat. Manjit lands on side mount but is unable to do much damage as ritika is covering up well and is active of her back. Manjit chooses to scramble away and once again asks the referee to stand ritika up. Both of them trade some shots standing with Manjit getting the better of the stand up exchange. Manjit pushing Ritika against the wall and landing some good bodyshots forces Ritika to cover up. Ritika shoots for a takedown but is reversed by Manjit. Manjit works her Ground and Pound which is unanswered by Ritika forcing referee Jitendra Khare to stop the bout.

Result: Manjit Kolekar wins by TKO at 04 mns 43 secs of round # 1

Fight Summary by India's leading MMA referee , the AMMAI's "Big" Jitendra Khare

"Battle at Red Square" K1 rules Pro 8 man tournament in Goa on 16th Dec

2011-12-06T05:30:00.000-08:00

Rush in your entries to be a part of this event as only 8 fighters will be selected to participate in One weight category ranging from 70 kgs to 90 kgs. Send your entries to dan@tigersgym.com and edgar.noordanus@gmail.com

WINNER OF THIS 8-MAN TOURNAMENT WILL RECEIVE A CASH PRIZE OF THIRTY THOUSAND RUPEES

Just another death of an indian warrior

2011-12-05T23:35:00.000-08:00

Many unreported deaths have ocurred at traditional martial arts tournaments all over India over the last 2 decades. These tournaments have a very sad state of affairs as fighters do not undergo any forms of medical checkup and the ringside physicians have little or no experience attending to fighters / combat sports athletes. Here are two of these very sad , recent tragedies : One from Karate and the other from Boxing. The news reports and their sources are as available from official reports.

Karateka dies due to neglect by event officials

Nov 12, 2009 Kozhikode , Kerala : The police have registered a case against the Kaju Kado Karate and Martial Arts Academy following the death of a participant during a tournament held at the Indoor Stadium here on November 7 and 8.

The Kasaba police registered a case against the academy, organisers of the All-Style Martial Arts and Full Contact Tournament, under Section 304 A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code following the post mortem examination report it received from the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital.

T. Ubais, 19, of Chettippadi, near Parappanangadi, in Malappuram district had died at a private hospital here around 3.30 a.m. on Monday. He swooned at the venue of the tournament, soon after a round on the concluding day of the two-day tournament on Sunday. He was given first aid at the venue and later shifted to the hospital.

The post mortem examination report said the cause of the death was “sub arachnoid haemorrhage due to vertebral artery rupture following a blunt force injury to the neck”.

Cause of death

As suspected earlier, it was a case of cervical trauma during the sport-related activity. The Department of Forensic Medicine conduct the post mortem examination.

A couple of days ago, the police had registered a case under Section 174 (police to inquire and report on doubt regarding the cause of death) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. They had been awaiting the post-mortem report.

Ubais, a construction worker, had started karate training two-and-a-half years ago. He had entered the quarterfinals in the “full contact” in the 55-60 kg category of the tournament.

Source : Online news The Hindu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mumbai College boxer dies after a blow to head at boxing tourney
MUMBAI: A final-year BCom student died of brain haemorrhage at a city hospital on Thursday, less than 36 hours after losing a bout in an intercollege boxing tournament for Mumbai University students. Doctors said the cause of the haemorrhage appeared to be a "compression of the brain" caused by a hit on the head.

Pramod Sav was a finalyear student of Guru Nanak College of Arts, Science and Commerce at GTB Nagar in Sion. The 21-year-old was into boxing for the last three years and was one of the 200 participants in a boxing tournament being hosted by Mumbai University on its Kalina campus.

Sav had a bout on Tuesday evening in which he took on a student of Wilson College. Sav narrowly lost the bout after three rounds, which saw several sharp blows being exchanged.

Those who witnessed the tie said though it was close and filled with sharp exchanges, neither Sav nor his opponent had serious external injuries. "Both contestants had the necessary safety gear," a witness said.

Sav, however, started complaining of nausea after the match. "He headed for home around 9pm," Mumbai Boxing Association chairman Rajan Jothady said. Sav's friends, seeing his condition, decided not to take him to his GTB Nagar residence but took him to Sion Hospital. He was given artificial respiratory support there and his family was called to the hospital but doctors recommended that he be shifted to another hospital that had better emergency-care facilities .

Sav was taken to Bombay Hospital but he had lapsed into coma even before he could be wheeled in, doctors said, adding that he arrived there early on Wednesday.

Doctors said his chest showed evidence of deep injuries . "There were no superficial injuries. But a CT scan showed there was a large clot that was pressing the brain and there was a change in the position of the brain," said Bombay Hospital consultant neurosurgeon Nootan Kumar Sharma. A team of doctors performed a complicated surgery on Sav but his condition deteriorated. "There was a subdural clot and we removed it. But he died of compression of the brain early on Thursday," Sharma said. He, however, added that Sav could have been saved had the surgery been done earlier.

The MBA has asked the university to provide financial support to the family.

College pays medical fees of deceased boxer
The Guru Nanak College of Arts, Science and Commerce paid the medical expenses of their 21-year-old student, Pramod Sav, who died of a brain haemorrhage early Thursday morning, after losing a boxing bout less than 36 hours earlier. On Thursday, the college stayed shut and a condolence meeting was held for Sav, a third-year BCom student. Sav had lost a boxing bout on Tuesday evening in an inter-college boxing tournament held by the Mumbai University on its Kalina campus. After the match, Sav complained of a headache and of feeling dizzy, said university officials. He was taken to Sion hospital and was subsequently shifted to Bombay Hospital for surgery.

“He had been playing for the past few years and had no previous medical history,” said Bina Punjabi, principal of Guru Nanak College in Sion. “The family is in shock. We paid for all the expenses.”

“We are still recovering from the shock,” said Punjabi. “He was a jolly, well-behaved boy.”

The Maharashtra Boxing Association said it would try and help out the boy’s family. “He was part of the association. We will help the family out,” said Bharatkumar Whaval, executive secretary of the association

Sav’s boxing opponent walks out of next match
MUMBAI: The 18-year-old boxing opponent of Pramod Sav could not play his next match after being told of the 21-yearold's hospitalization on Wednesday. Sav died of brain haemorrhage at a city hospital on Thursday - 31 hours after he suffered a few blows to his head during an intercollegiate boxing tournament conducted by the Mumbai University.

Sav's opponent was seen crying during Wednesday's tournament. "Although he went to the ring, he could not bring himself to play after the first round and lost. He was disturbed throughout," said Rajan Jothady, chairman of Mumbai Boxing Association (MBA) and also his coach.

The first-year BSc student was also not present for his lectures on Friday. His coach said that the student's parents are now concerned and have asked him to stay indoors. All attempts to get in touch with the family proved futile.

Sources : The Times of India

Gym Wars 13 : Aswanth TK (Calicut) vs Vikrant Salve (Thane)

2011-12-05T21:05:00.000-08:00

Round 1: Both fighters gauging the distance early. Vikrant and Ashwanth exchange leg kicks but are ineffective. Vikrant tries to move in with a side kick but Aswanth answers with a right hook. Both fighters still ineffective with their striking. Aswanth firesoff a series of leg kicks that are unanswered by Vikrant and forces Vikrant to switch stances. Vikrant fires back with a body kick which is trapped by Aswanth. Aswanth throws Vikrant to the mat and follows up with an illegal head kick to a grounded Vikrant. After checking with Vikrant and issuing Aswanth his first warning, referee Jitendra Khare stands up both the fighters and restarts the bout. Vikrant throws a body kick again which is trapped by Aswanth who fires back with a right hook which connects square on Vikrant and drops him. Aswanth follows him to the ground and continues to ground and pound,forcing referee to jump in and stop the fight.

Result: Aswanth T.K wins by TKO at 4 mins 01 sec of Round # 1

Fight Summary by India's leading MMA referee , the AMMAI's "Big" Jitendra Khare

Gym Wars 13 : Rajesh More [Nasik] vs Abhijit Kundu [Chennai]

2011-12-05T20:41:00.000-08:00

Round 1: Abhijit takes control of the center and throws a low kick and a body kick early both of which connect. Rajesh pushes Abhijit against the wall but is reversed by Abhijit who is trying to sink in an Anaconda choke. Rajesh escapes and quickly fires back with a jab and a left hook. Abhijit backs out after getting hit with the punches and lands up almost giving up his back in the bargain. Rajesh is unable to get his hooks in and both break up and their is a brief exchange of punches with Rajesh getting better of the exchange. Rajesh again fires a left jab and left hook which visibly rocks Abhijit. Rajesh quickly follows it up by throwing knees and a couple of left upper cuts from the clinch. Abhijit covers up and Rajesh manages to get his back and takes him to the ground quickly to finish off with a Rear Naked choke.

Result: Rajesh wins by submission [RNC] at 2mns of round # 1
Submission of the Night !!!

Fight Summary by India's leading MMA referee , the AMMAI's "Big" Jitendra Khare

India's best mma fighters on the International circuit

2011-12-01T01:40:00.000-08:00

MMA strength training in Mumbai

2011-11-29T01:38:00.001-08:00

MMA training in Mumbai

2011-11-29T01:34:00.000-08:00

One Fighting Championship update 23.11.2011

2011-11-22T21:31:00.000-08:00

As we first told you about last week, Victor Cui held the inaugural Asian MMA Summit today in Singapore - something that no other country has ever even made an attempt at doing. In doing so, the entire OneFC Network was on hand to stomp out different ideas, ideals, and the like. Cui, the brains behind the entire operation, has been very enthusiastic about the Network, and rightfully so.

Sources from multiple Asian MMA organizations have reported to MMA-Japan the details of the Summit, and we are impressed to say the least.

OneFC is now the major leagues of Asian MMA. By saying that, we mean that all the domestic promotions (RoadFC, CFC, URCC, etc...) have agreed to have their champions and top fighters "graduate" to OneFC which is more or less deemed the big leagues of Asian MMA.

OneFC and CFC, the top Aussie fight promotion, have agreed to do a co-promotion in Perth, Australia at some point in 2012, which actually adds an entire continent to the mix.OneFC and URCC have agreed to do a co-promotion in July 2012 in Manila, Philippines. The venue for this event has been booked and it is green lighted, 100% ready to go.

OneFC is going to make a monumental announcement with regards to their media deals. They have 4 huge media deals with another 3 almost wrapped up. When the other 3 are done, the announcement will be made. A record ONE BILLION viewers will be tuning in to the organization and their network - the largest in MMA history.

A huge fight has been booked for the OneFC event in Jakarta next year. CFC champion Bernardo Trekko vs Martial Combat champion Ole Larson is said be in the makings for the event.

Gym Wars 13 : MMA in Mumbai , first look results

2011-11-19T22:42:00.000-08:00

Bout # 1 : Aswanth T.K [Calicut] vs Vikrant Salve [Thane]
Result : Aswanth T.K wins by TKO at 4mn 01 sec of round # 1

Bout # 2 : Swapnil Barve [Nasik] vs Sumith R [Bangalore]
Result : Sumith R wins by TKO at 4mn 40 sec of round # 1

Bout # 3 : Pranav Mantri [Mumbai] vs Vaisakh P.D [Calicut]
Result : Vaisakh P.D wins by KO at 32 secs of round # 2
Fight of the Night !!!

Bout # 4 : Susovan Ghosh [Mumbai] vs Sharath Babu [Calicut]
Result : fight goes the distance : Draw

Bout # 5 : Rajesh More [Nasik] vs Abhijit Kundu [Chennai]
Result : Rajesh wins by submission [RNC] at 2mns of round # 1
Submission of the Night !!!

Co-main event : Womens MMA bout [Gym Wars MMA India first ever womens mma bout]
Bout # 6 : Ritika Singh [Thane] vs Manjit Kolekar [Mumbai]
Result : Manjit Kolekar wins by TKO at 04 mns 43 secs of round # 1

Main event : Aikido vs Boxing
Bout # 7 : Sachin Bhat [Mangalore] vs Bhanji Mahida [Mumbai]
Result : Sachin Bhat wins by KO at 14 secs of round # 1 [head kick KO]
Picture above
KO of the night !!! best KO of Gym Wars in all 13 events

A detailed report with pictures by Evolution MMA CEO Jitendra Khare
follows soon.

Gym Wars 13 Official weigh-ins and rule briefing

2011-11-18T08:50:00.000-08:00

Rule briefing with chief Gym Wars official "Big" Jitendra Khare
at Evolution MMA this evening.

The first official women's mma fight and the co-main event
of Gym Wars 13 : Ritika Singh vs Manjit Kolekar

The main event of Gym Wars 13 : Sachin Bhat [Mangalore]
vs Bhanji Mahida [Mumbai] at the weigh-ins and rule briefing

Gym Wars 13 official announcement

2011-11-16T05:37:00.000-08:00

MAIN EVENT FIGHTCARD
Sudipto Marik [MMA] vs Vikrant Salve [Karate]
Sachin Bhat [Aikido] vs Bhanji Mahida [Boxing]
Manjit [Boxing] vs Ritika [MMA]
Plus other exciting action bouts to be announced soon
fighters arriving from Mangalore , Bangalore , Calicut
Chennai , Punjab , Nasik and Mumbai

Tigers Gym contacts :

2011-11-07T22:29:00.000-08:00

Daniel Isaac : dan@tigersgym.com
CEO of Tigers Gym & Fight Club
+91-9890381987

Alan Fenandes : alan@tigersgym.com
GM of Tigers MMA Academy , Nasik
+91-9890320402

Jitendra Khare : vicky@tigersgym.com
CEO of Evolution MMA Mumbai
+91-9820665925

Sudipto Marik : sud@tigersgym.com
MD of Evolution Fitness Mumbai
+91-9819526474

Gym Wars : gymwars@tigersgym.com

Gym Wars XIII : gymwars13@tigersgym.com

India's best MMA fighters battle it out at "The Fight Challenge"

2011-11-07T00:30:00.000-08:00

MMA in India : Gym Wars XIII announcement

2011-11-03T03:29:00.000-07:00

Gym Wars XIII Returns to Evolution MMA Mumbai on Saturday 19th November.
Fighter Auditions are already underway. To get a bout at Gym Wars XIII send your resume / fight profile / pic / video to tigersgym@gmail.com. Fighter weigh-ins will begin 5pm on Friday 18th Nov at the Evolution MMA Mumbai training centre. Bouts will start 1pm on the 19th and end by 4pm. Fighters interested to build their record may compete regularly at the gym wars events held every month in Mumbai.

BJJ Team India : 2011 Thailand Open Video Highlight

2011-11-02T11:27:00.000-07:00

Best Gym Wars India Fights # 1

2011-11-02T05:28:00.000-07:00

Chaitanya Gavali winning gold for India at 2011 Thailand Open BJJ [no-gi]

2011-10-30T14:35:00.000-07:00

One FC Announcement with CEO Victor Cui 30.10.2011

2011-10-30T06:40:00.000-07:00

Jitendra , Chaitanya , Bharat win gold for India in Thailand

2011-10-30T01:42:00.000-07:00

On 21st Oct, 2011 India’s No. 1 Submission Wrestler, Alan Fenandes, led a 9 man squad to Thailand to represent India in Asia’s largest & most prestigious Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu & Submission Grappling tournament ‘The Thailand Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu & Submission Grappling Open’, organized by BJJAT (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Association of Thailand) under the IBJJF rules (International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation)
Held over 2 days i.e. 22nd Oct and 23rd Oct the tournament had a record turnout of well over 300 competitors from elite BJJ clubs not only from the entire Asian continent but also from Europe, Russia & USA. Competing against the teams of BJJ heavyweights such as Dan Simmler, Rodrigo Caporal, Marcus Escobar and also well reputed BJJ clubs such as Bangkok BJJ, Grip House, Taiwan BJJ, Evolve participating in this tournament, Team India were the definite underdogs.
For the Gi division, held on Saturday, 22nd Oct, Jitendra Khare, led the pack with a 1st place finish in the Adults Ultra Heavyweight White Belt division.
Falling short of the top spot but still receiving a Bronze were Chaitanya Gavali, an under 76 KG competitor in the Adult White Belt division, who fought hard and ended up with a 3rd place finish only losing to the eventual champion, and Alan Fenandes, who also managed a hard fought 3rd place in the Adult Blue/Purple Belt under 93 KG category.
The No Gi Division was held on Sunday, 23rd Oct. Bharat Khandare & Chaitanya Gavali took to the mat and send some shockwaves through the Asian BJJ community by running through their competition enroute to securing Gold medals in Adults Novice Under 67.5 kgs & Adults Novice Under 76.5 kgs
Jitendra Khare wasn’t as successful as on the previous day and could only manage a respectable 2nd place in the Adults Novice Ultra heavyweight category.
Both Alan Fenandes & Susovan Ghosh also managed to secure 3rd place finishes in Adults Intermediate Under 93.5 kgs & Adults Novice Under 57.5 kgs.
Anup Kumar started well and secured a Quarter Final berth in both Adult Novice Under 63.5 kgs and Adult Novice Absolute/Open weight division but unfortunately was robbed off a Semi final berth in the Absolute division due to some poor calls made on behalf of the referee.
Sudipto Marik and Sohn Burkhard although falling out of medal contention, fought hard and gave it their all as usual, only losing in their white belt & absolute categories respectfully to strong opponents.
The team amassed a healthy tally of 8 medals i.e. 3 Golds, 1 Silver & 4 Bronze, over the 2 days & definitely made everyone sit up and take notice of them with their strong performance against the
The 9 man squad and their competing division was as follows:
Alan Fenandes [Nasik]- GI- Adult Blue belt Under 93.5 Kgs & No GI- Adult Intermediate Under 93.5 Kgs
Jitendra Khare [Mumbai] - GI- Adult White belt Over 100 Kgs & No GI- Adult Novice Over 100 Kgs
Chaitanya Gavali [Mumbai]- GI- Adult White belt Under 76.5 Kgs & No GI- Adult Novice Under 76.5 Kgs
Sudipto Marik [Mumbai]- GI- Adult White belt Under 63.5 Kgs & No GI- Adult Novice Under 63.5 Kgs
Sohn Burkhard [Nasik] - GI- Adult White belt Under 76.5 Kgs & No GI- Adult Novice Under 76.5 Kgs
Bharat Khandare [Nasik]- No GI- Adult Novice Under 67.5 Kgs
Susovan Ghosh [Kolkata]- No GI- Adult Novice Under 57.5 Kgs
Anup Kumar[Delhi] - No GI- Adult Novice Under 63.5 Kgs
Bhargav Sope [Nasik] - No GI- Adult Novice Under 83.5 Kgs

ONE Fighting Championship™ announces largest MMA network in Asian history

2011-10-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

Indian fighters on the One FC official roster

26 October, 2011 - Singapore: ONE Fighting Championship™ has signed mutually exclusive partnerships with most of the major Asian MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia as a part of its ONE Asia strategy to unify all the key players in the sport of MMA in Asia. The ONE Asia Partnership Network is the largest of its kind in MMA history in Asia.

ONE Fighting Championship™ has formed exclusive partnerships with the following organizations:

-URCC (Philippines)
-Cage Fighting Championship (Australia)
-ROAD Fighting Championship (Korea)
-DARE Fightsports (Thailand)
-Team Lakay Wushu (Philippines)
-Tiger Muay Thai and MMA (Thailand)
-Tigers Gym & Fight Club(India)
-Evolve Mixed Martial Arts (Singapore)
-Legacy Gym (Thailand)
-Tough MMA (Taiwan)
-Synergy Jiu-Jitsu (Indonesia)
-Juggernaut FC (Singapore)
-Fightworks Asia (Singapore)
-PAK MMA (Pakistan)
-Team Force (Korea)
-MuayFit (Malaysia)
-Leverage MMA (Malaysia)

ONE Fighting Championship™ currently remains in confidential discussions with many of the other top Asian MMA promotions and MMA gyms across Asia. Additionally, ONE FC has added another 17 of Asia’s top MMA fighters to its roster. Further announcements will be made in the near future.

Victor Cui, CEO/Owner of ONE Fighting Championship, said, ”Our goal is to unify Asian MMA and to build the sport that we all love dearly. With today’s announcement, many of the top MMA organizations and gyms in Asia have joined hands. Given our current discussions with various parties, we will be announcing another 23 additional MMA organizations and gyms to the ONE FC Network in the coming days and weeks. These strong partnerships will help to accelerate the development of Asian fighters and the sport of MMA in the region. Asian fighters need platforms to gain invaluable experience and to showcase their skills to the world. If you are a ONE FC fighter, you will automatically be able to compete in the biggest MMA events across Asia within the ONE FC Network. If you are a sponsor, you will be able to leverage and target your sponsorship dollars across multiple platforms. If you are a fan, you will enjoy many more high quality MMA shows around Asia. Ultimately, as it continues to grow, the ONE FC Network will multiply in benefits for all parties involved.”

Additionally, ONE Fighting Championship is pleased to announce the dates and countries of its next 3 events:

ONE FC 2: February 11, 2012 in Indonesia
ONE FC 3: March 31, 2012 in Singapore
ONE FC 4: April 27, 2012 in Malaysia

About ONE Fighting Championship™
Headquartered in Singapore, ONE Fighting Championship™ is Asia's largest mixed martial arts organization. ONE Fighting Championship hosts the most prestigious mixed martial arts event in Asia.

One FC latest updates !

2011-10-25T08:13:00.000-07:00

One Fc is pleased to announce its next 3 events :

11.02.2012 : Kelapa Gading Sports Mall , Jakarta Indonesia

31.03.2012 : Singapore Indoor Stadium , Singapore

27.04.2012 : Stadium Negara , Kualalumpur Malaysia

Get ready to watch some of India's top mma fighters competing on Asia's biggest MMA show. Watch this space for more news ...

Daniel Isaac's Quotes

2011-10-25T05:28:00.000-07:00

"Influence effect viewpoints , Viewpoints effect decisions , Decisions effect actions , Actions effect consequences , Consequences create events , Events become history , History effects the next generation , so try and be a part of history and history repeating itself , lets try and influence the world in the best possible way to make this world a better place for us all to live in" Daniel Isaac 25.10.2011

India victorious at Thailand Open BJJ Championships

2011-10-23T13:47:00.000-07:00

Team Tigers BJJ India claimed 3 gold , 1 silver and 4 bronze at the 2011 Thailand Open BJJ Championships in Bangkok on the 22nd and 23rd October.

2 more gold medals for BJJ team India at the 2011 Thailand Open in Bangkok

2011-10-23T00:57:00.000-07:00

Bharat Kandare[Devlali Nasik] and Chaitanya Gavali [Mumbai]claimed two more gold medals for India at the Thailand Open BJJ Championships 2011[no-gi] , super duper guys !!! well done ! Chaitanya also picked up a bronze in the gi division.

"Big" Jitendra Khare wins Gold for India at the 2011 Thailand Open BJJ Championships

2011-10-21T23:09:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Jitendra Khare for winning gold for BJJ Team India !!! you rock bro !!! More news / info and videos to come !!! Jitendra picked up a gold at the gi and a silver at the no-gi category of the ultra heavyweight division.

Team India leaves Mumbai airport for the 2011 Thailand BJJ Open

2011-10-21T03:23:00.000-07:00

All the best to Team India as they have left for the 2011 Thailand open BJJ championships being held on the 22nd and 22rd of October. The team led by Alan Fenandes comprises of Jitendra Khare , Chaitanya Gavali , Bharat Khandare , Anup Kumar , Susovan Ghosh , Sudipto Marik , Bhargav Sope and Sohn Burkhard. This is the largest bjj contingent to represent Indian bjj international yet.

"Fighters Only" MMA Magazine does a featurette on Gym Wars and MMA in India

2011-10-09T06:24:00.000-07:00

International MMA magazine "Fighters Only" did a little write-up on our fighters and Gym Wars. For some strange reason they kept referring to it as "Cage wars" ... ??? Thanks "Fighters Only" !

We are on FHM [oct 2011 issue]

2011-10-09T06:19:00.000-07:00

Tigers continues to promote MMA the best possible way in India with great coverage in the october 2011 issue of FHM [India]. Page 109 has Daniel Isaac on a full page colour feature and pages 110 and 111 have a nice write-up on on our work , our team , our fighters and our international achievements.

I believe in my fighters ... Now its time for them to believe in themselves

2011-10-03T19:15:00.000-07:00

"I believe in my fighters ... Now its time for them to believe in themselves , take opportunity by the balls and give the mma world something new to talk about" Daniel Isaac - Tue 4th october 2011 , 7:50am

Susovan Ghosh vs Radeem Rahman One FC 1 : public weigh-ins

2011-09-06T05:37:00.000-07:00

The weigh-ins at the Cathay Mall Singapore 02.09.2011

Ghosh faces first loss of his pro mma career

2011-09-04T21:07:00.000-07:00

Sat 3rd Sept : Indian MMA fighter Susovan Ghosh lost to Radeem Rahman of Singapore at the inaugural event of the One Fighting Championships. Ghosh put up a brave fight with his relentless takedown attempts event though Radeem rocked him early in the fight. Radeem won to the excitement of the packed house of singaporean mma fans at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Living the MMA Dream at the One Fighting Championships Singapore 03.09.2011

2011-09-01T10:33:00.000-07:00

Daniel with Yodchatri Sidyotong , owner of Evolve MMA

Alan with Kazuo Misaki , mma veteran of Pride and Dream FC

Alan with UFC fighter Yoshiyuki Yoshida

Alan and Susovan with MMA legend Bas Rutten and UFC fighter Josh Thompson

Alan with the New York badass Phil Baroni

Daniel with Ole Laursen k1 max fighter

With Bas Rutten

With Victor Cui , CEO of One Fighting Championships

With Yuji Shimada [left] , Pride Fc veteran MMA referee and MMA legend Matt Hume

With Renzo Gracie

With Shinya Aoki , worlds # 1 grappler

The Top Ten MMA Fighters in India : Sept 2011

2011-08-24T01:09:00.000-07:00

Mohammed Shahid is 2011's No # 1 Indian MMA fighter. He won the 80kg 8 man tournament at Gym Wars 12 this year and is undefeated in his mma record of 4/0/0 Shahid says that he will be relentless until he wins a UFC title belt and makes India proud. Shahid runs the Hawks Elite Combat Academy in Manama Bahrain. Shahid will be making his International MMA debut at th One Fighting Championship in Singapore this year.

Bharat Khandare is the No # 1 Indian MMA fighter in the 70 kgs weight category. Bharat won the 2011 eight man tournament in the 70 kgs category at Gym Wars 12 and will also be fighting at the One Fighting Championships in Singapore this year. Bharat's only loss was in Almaty Kazakhstan last year at the World Absolute Fighting Championships. This loss was highly controversial and Bharat still considers himself undefeated in India at his record of 6/1/0

Chaitanya "Dangerous" Gavali carries an mma record of 4/1/0 and will be one of the top contenders to watch out for this year. Chaitanya began fighting last year in the 90kg category , dropped down to 80 kgs for the 2011 8 man tourney and will be dropping further to 70 kgs for his debut International at One Fighting Championships Singapore. Jitendra Khare , his strength coach says that the 70kgs will be ideal for Chaitanya to perform at his best.

Rajesh More has a 5/2/0 mma record and is a strong contender training out of Tigers MMA Academy , Nasik.

Susovan Ghosh recently rose to fame after being selected to be the sole Indian MMA representative at the One Fighting Championships debut event on sept 3rd 2011. Susovan carries an mma record of 4/2/0 and will be fighting Radeem Rahman at One Fc. Susovan is a brown belt in Shitoryu Karate.

Surje Gurung is the assistant manager at Tigers MMA Academy Nasik and carries an mma record of 4/1/0 His only loss came from Bharat Khandare[he refused to fight his training partner Bharat at the 70 kg tourney at Gym Wars 12]. Surje was the National Kickboxing in 2009

Khriemelie Chettri aka "Meme the pocket rocket" carries an undefeated mma record of 2/0/0

Meme is a proud representative of Nagaland and the premiere mma fighter representing North East India

Anup Menon has an mma record of 2/1/0 and trains at Evolution MMA Mumbai

Swapnil Barve has an mma record of 2 /2/0 and trains at Tigers MMA Academy , Nasik

"BPO bad boy" Sudipto Marik carries an mma record of 2/0/0 and fights out of Evolution MMA Mumbai. "Big" Jitendra Khare , the official referee for Gym Wars is currently looking for a 60kg fighter who can knock out Sudipto and help sort some monies owed to the badboy. Sudipto in turn is willing to negotiate with any fighter ready to lose to him in spectacular fashion.

Most promising Indian MMA fighters of 2011-2012

2011-08-24T00:07:00.000-07:00

Anup"Pitbull" Kumar hails from Delhi and has been training at Tigers Gym since 2008. he was part of the Indian team to compete at the World Absolute Fighting Championships in Almaty Kazakhstan in 2010 and also won the Asian Kickboxing Championships in the same year. Anup has an mma record of 1/1/0

Mastveer Singh has an mma record of 1/0/0 and is one of the most promising middleweights on the Tigers roster this year. Mastveer's hobbies and pastimes include eating , sleeping and bullying newbie students at evolution mma mumbai. Mastveer also runs an institute in Mumbai to help docile mma fighters to pursue a degree in mma trashtalking.

Pranav Mantri trains at Evolution MMA Mumbai and has a fight record of 2/1/0

Both Pranav and Aditya More claim to be bilogical sons of Mastveer Singh but Mastveer has no comment about these claims both on and off camera.

Sanjivan Padwal is currently completing his mma instructors course at the Tigers MMA Academy Nasik and plans to work with the same institute soonafter. Sanjivan has a fight record of 1/2/0 he comes from a karate background.

Ricky Ranjeet Sahni has an mma record of 1/0/0 , Recently won the Daniel Isaac's MMA Challenge and was the champion at the 70kgs Asian Kickboxing Championships held last year.

Ranjith K is the head instructor and fighter of the Swastick MMA team in Calicut Kerala. Ranjith has an mma record of 0/1/0 and is recovering from surgery before he resumes his fighting career at gym wars.

India's Top veteran MMA fighters

2011-08-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

Kultar Gill aka "Black Mamba" is by far the most experienced "indian" mma fighter. With a pro mma record of 10 / 8 / 0 kultar has fought the whos who of pro mma and was very active on the japanese mma circuit until last year. Although Kultar hasn't fought for a while we still believe he has a couple of big fights lined up. Kultar is a canadian national.

Alan Fenandes aka "The Bull" is India's most experienced mma fighter. Born and brought up in Punjab Alan lives and trains in devlali Nasik and manages the famous "Tigers MMA Academy" in Nasik. Alan has been on the international pro ma circuit since 2004 and fought a lot of mma names like Mark Epstein , Ao Hai Lin and Ray Elbe. Alan is a bjj blue belt under carlos santos [brazilian top team] and trained under Pedro Schmall and Christian Graugart. He was a bronze medalist in the abu dhabi bjj championships in 2008. Alan fights for the Tigers International Fight Team will be returning to pro mma at the One Fighting Championship later this year. Alan has a pro mma record of 5/2/0 but sherdog lists his record as 3/2/0

Abhijeet Petkar has been competing mma since 2007. he has not been very successful with his pro mma career internationally but is eager to fight on for his team and expects to make a big win this year. Abhijeet has also fought pro kickboxing internationally. Abhijeet lives in Kalyan Maharashtra and has a pro mma record of 1/3/0

Subaig Singh is a sikh mma fighter based in the United Kingdom. Subaig has a pro mma record of 4 / 1 / 0 and is a qualified doctor.

Kaushik Sen 2 / 5 / 0 recently moved from the US to New Delhi India. Kaushik has been competing mma since 2003 and was very active on the US mma circuit. Kaushik is now training in New Delhi and has re-started his mma career fighting on the Gym Wars circuit in Mumbai.

Upneet Rai is a pro mma fighter based in British Columbia. Upneet was born in france , competes on the mma circuit in Canada , speaks six languages and is studying global studies and political science. Upneet has a pro mma record of 2 / 4 / 0.

Gudarshan Mangat aka "Gary Saint Lion" is a pro mma fighter fast rising in his mma career in Canada. Gary has been training with Kultar Gill and has a pro mma record of 4 / 0 / 0

Hardeep Singh is an experienced mma fighter based in Canada. Hardeep has been competing mma since 2006 and recently fought at the Legend Fighting Championships in Hong Kong. Hardeep has a pro mma record of 9/2/0 fights in asia for the Tigers International Fight Team.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

f you are a pro mma fighter : either Indian or of Indian origin and if you have not been listed here please send us your complete profile and links for review to tigersgym@gmail.com

Introducing "India's* best MMA fighters"

2011-08-23T21:18:00.000-07:00

The Gym Wars circuit has given opportunities to all the up and coming fighters to get good fighting experience this year. Its also got a lot of fighters a chance to build their records before they get to face international competition. Over the next few blog posts I am listing out India's top mma fighters sorted by these three categories 1]India's top 10 mma fighters 2]India's "most promising" mma fighters 3]Indias top veteran mma fighters.

When I mention "Indian" I mean fighters who are either Indian nationals or are fighters of Indian origin living in other countries.

Susovan Ghosh featured in the "Times of India"

2011-08-19T06:15:00.000-07:00

Please pickup a copy of the Times of India [Times Crest Edition] tomorrow i.e saturday 20th august to read a story on one of Indias top ten mma fighters Susovan Ghosh as he prepares for his pro mma debut at the One Fighting Championship in Singapore on the 3rd of september. If you missed the daily hardcopy version you can still read the article on the Times Crest website you just need to register and sign-in to read the full article.

MMA in India "Gym Wars" XII : Results

2011-08-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

At Gym Wars XII Susovan Ghosh receives best wishes from Alan Fenandes , Lorelei Isaac , Daniel Isaac , Jitendra Khare and Mohd Shahid as he prepares for his pro mma debut at One FC 3rd sept in singapore.

Tournament champs Bharat and Shahid pose for the cameras with Alan , Jitendra , Daniel and Mastveer.

Gym Wars XII fighters

Bharat Khandare Gym Wars 70 kg India tournament champion

All that weight cutting had the champ hungry , Mohd Shahid 80 kg India tournament champion 2011 in Mumbai

Chaitanya wins his round # 2 fight at 80 kg tournament

BPO 'bad boy' Sudipto Marik pulls off another win, this time against a kudo daido juku champion

Chaitanya vs Shahid : 80kg Gym Wars finals bout. Shahid won the fight by a 1st round KO and handed chaitanya the first loss of his amateur mma career.

Khriemelie Chhetri grounding and pounding Atif Mohd Khadim just before he slapped on that slick armbar. Atif came in very confident but was no match for the calm and composed Chhetri who executed his gameplan perfectly. Full results of all the bouts from Gym Wars XII will be out soon.

Gym Wars 12 : Its on !

2011-08-10T01:25:00.000-07:00

Gym Wars 12 promises to be the best of the gym wars events held till date. Fighters from all over India from various fighting backgrounds are making their way to the venue. Headling the event will be an 8 man tournament for the -70 kgs and another 8 man tournament for the -80 kgs fighters. All fighters must report at the venue friday 7pm for the official weighins and registrations. Bouts will begin saturday 12 noon onwards.

Tigers Team MMA India 2011

2011-08-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

The year 2011 promises to be a landmark year for MMA in India. "Gym Wars" the amateur mixed martial arts circuit for up and coming indian mma fighters has completed a year this week as it holds its 12th event in Mumbai. The -80kgs and -70kgs 8 man tournaments promise to be the most eagerly awaited of the events at Gym Wars this year. This year also begins the pro mma circuit for the Indian fighters. Kicking off in sept-oct the indian pro mma circuit will be held at various cities in India. All Gym Wars fight events are sanctioned and organized on behalf of the oldest and biggest Govt regd Mixed Martial Arts organization in India.

The Food Channel : Tigers MMA India "ishtyle"

2011-07-28T04:24:00.000-07:00

Mastveer eating a little ice-cream after a hard afternoon mma workout
I mean Cmon guys , who doesnt love his food ? Shatup all you health freaks ! This blog post is dedicated to all the wonderful food joints that we visit during our mma journey all over the world. Now thats what I call "picture perfect"

A good ol Daniel Isaac smile after a lovely meal in Dubai.

A select few people get to break bread with us at my home in devlali , heres what all you other suckers miss out on when theres a party in Daniel Isaacs house ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Vicky gets to begin and Anup Menon get to smile and watch ...

Weekday afternoon subway salad.

Royler Gracie Black Belt Pedro Schmall eating a crazy combo at the Evolution MMA Mumbai gym : wadapav , lassi , dhokla and chicken ??? what ?

My Max being bribed with an ice-cream before his visit to the vet , what we mean by this bribe is "Max please dont bite the vet !"

Typical saturday afternoon meal after traning , Satinos !

My plate of Chicken dum biryani in hyderabad , the land flowing with chicken and biryani

My lunch snack at Mcdonalds in Hong Kong

Myself and Abhijeets post fight dinner with friends in Hong Kong.This picture is entitled"Burrp!"

A Rare picture of Vicky , Alan and Mastveer with their plates actually empty. And yeah there goes mr Alan Fenandes sending an sms to the cook , saale ! butter lagake !!!

What better a meal to ask for after a hard day at work. My wonderful wife cooks delicious meals like this one every night after I return from training at Golds and Tigers on weekdays. Eat your heart out all you guys who get 'daal chawal" ha ha ha ha

I was in Calicut recently , at this restaurant you get to choose the fish you want to eat and then the cook prepares it the style you want, Yum ! I mean "yum yum yay"

Mr Alan Fenandes caught eating with 'friends' in dubai late last year. Ahem !

Part 2 of the MMA India Food Channel coming soon ... !

BJJ in India [update 28.07.2011] Oron Ben Simon

2011-07-28T03:21:00.000-07:00

Grappling instructor at evolution mma and tigers mma academy and pro mma fighter of the tigers international fight team : Oron Ben Simon recently attended another seminar with 'the man' himself , Royce Gracie. On bens request Royce signed a t-shirt as a gesture towards the tigers team in India. Ben is training hard and awaiting another fight in singapore this year.

Gym Wars XI : 03.07.2011 , Main event MMA bout

2011-07-26T23:20:00.000-07:00

Susovan Ghosh [4/2/0] took on Muay Thai India champ Biswa Dev of Bangalore for the main event at Gym Wars XI , Arguably this bout would qualify for the top 3 most boring fights of gym wars in 2011 until thankfully Susovan ended the fight with a 'muay thai' knee of his own to the bangalore fighter halfway through the second round. Biswa has been promised a rematch with Susovan after the OneFc fight in singapore.

Gym Wars Contracts

2011-07-25T23:09:00.000-07:00

All martial artists who compete at the "Gym Wars" amateur mixed martial arts tournaments/contests/hard sparring bouts should be well aware that each fighter is required to sign a fighter contract as well as an Indemnity Waiver/Liability Waiver/Indemnity bond [click on the words for definition] and "Right of publicity" consent. These documents are very important both for the fighter and for tigers gym because all Gym Wars video are telecasted on the Gym Wars Youtube Channel. These videos are telecasted to promote the up and coming fighters and provide them with mma fight experience as well prepare for them an amateur fight record before they compete international or at pro events both in India and abroad.

Gym Wars XII will feature 8 man tourneys for the -70 kgs and -80 kgs groups

2011-07-24T10:57:00.000-07:00

Register your name now if you want to fight in the 8 man tournaments for -70 and -80 kgs mma categories via tigersgym@gmail.com Fights will begin 11am on saturday 13th august at evolution mma mumbai.

Wladimir Klitschko vs David Haye : boxing makes a statement ?

2011-07-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

Yeah the question mark at the end of this blog header isnt a mistake. I just finished watching the klitchko vs haya title bout and heres how it went : The crowd was deafening , the british fans were boisterous [and drunk] almost jumping on their own hero as he made it down to the ring. The promoters tried to make a dramatical introduction leading up to the walkouts but failed miserably [even though they brought down some big names to be part of it like larry holmes] there were some pretty obvious f*$%ups which looked terrible on screen. The only thing i enjoyed was the trash talking from david haye which i guess got him this fight after all. It was absolutely pathetic to see Klitchko cornerman and head trainer Emmanuel Steward literally begging Klitchko to go for the kill. Wladimir looked like he wasnt interested to finish off Haye and preferred to do some wrestling style single arm takles which knocked Haye down to the floor a few times early into the fight. Well ... I did lie to you guys when I began this blog writeup I didnt finish watching the entire fight , as usual i tried my best but couldnt go beyond the 9th round of the scheduled 12 rounder [someone please tell me who won and how he won coz i couldnt bear the suspense] Watching the beginning and the amount of people and celebrities in the stadium I went like "Oh shit looks like boxing is gonna make a statement with this fight" but , sorry guys boxing did make a statement "theres no way we can compare ourselves with mma or even k1 anymore , they are the big players and even though our big fights have the money , they [mma and k1] are the big boys for now. Dana White , my man ! youre the boss and kudos to you for what you have done with the UFC , you have set the standard for everyone and even boxing needs to learn from you ... even with tv production.

Official Fightcard for OneFc Singapore 3rd Sept Inaugural show : Susovan Ghosh sole representative for Indian MMA

2011-07-19T12:06:00.000-07:00

Indias Susovan "Lil Tiger" Ghosh to take on Singapore Golden boy Radeem Rahman on 3rd Sept

2011-07-18T23:16:00.000-07:00

Brandishing his 4 / 2 / 0 amateur mma record , West Bengal MMA fighter Susovan Ghosh has stepped up a weight class to take on the challenge of Radeem Rahman who is singapores first pro mma fighter. Radeem has a background in muay thai and trains with the top mma team in Singapore - Evolve. Susovan usually cuts weight to fight in the under 55 kgs category in India but will be fighting at his walkabout weight of 58 kgs for this international mma bout which will also debut him into the pro mma circuit. Susovan has a background in shotokan karate and kravmaga and started training mma one year ago at Evolution MMA in Mumbai. Strength and conditioning coach and Managing director of Evolution MMA Jitendra Khare is very proud that Susovan will be the first indian mma fighter to represent the country at One FC. Susovan will be cornered by Alan Fenandes who is Indias most experienced fighter and has competed against the likes of Mark "Beast" Epstein and "Magical" Ray Elbe. Alan has been working with Susovan on his Muay Thai , wrestling and bjj and is confident that Susovan will surprise Radeem in this highly publicised undercard fight. The complete fightcard of the event can be viewed Here and Here

Sambo and Pankration India head stops by to watch ringside action at Gym Wars 11

2011-07-04T04:23:00.000-07:00

Grandmaster Suresh Gopi , the head of the SAMBO Federation of India and the India Federation of Pankration Athlima visited Evolution MMA on 3rd july to witness the mma action at Gym Wars 11 , master Suresh was impressed by the talent displayed by the up and coming amateur fighters at this inter club mma event and eagerly cheered on the fighters at the mma and kickboxing bouts.

Gym Wars 11 : Susovan Ghosh vs Biswa Dev

2011-07-04T04:18:00.000-07:00

Biswa dev of Muay Thai India took on the challenge to be Susovan Ghosh's opponent at Gym Wars 11. The bangalore based muay thai practitioner tried his best to pull the fight on to the second round until he was cut badly over the eye by a knee to the head. The doctor stepped in to inform head referee Jitendra Khare that the cut was bad and Biswa needed stitches declaring Susovan Ghosh the winner. Rumours are out that a rematch between Biswa and Susovan is expected in August this year.

Gym Wars 11 : Kaushik Sen vs Nadeem Farooqui

2011-07-04T04:12:00.000-07:00

Most technical bout of Gym Wars 11 was between Kaushik Sen [New Delhi] and Nadeem Farooqui [Mumbai] , both fighters displayed top level of fighting skill and Nadeem fought hard to clinch the deciding win in the third and final round.

Gym Wars 11 : Sudipto Marik vs Shahul Hameed Mohammed

2011-07-04T04:07:00.000-07:00

Evolution mma amateur fighter and BPO executive Sudipto Marik makes quick work of bangalore based kickboxer Shahul Hameed Mohammed at a catchweight mma bout at Gym Wars 11 held on Sunday 3rd July.

Gym Wars XI : Sunday July 3rd 2011 at Evolution MMA Mumbai

2011-06-29T23:26:00.001-07:00

So you wanna be Indias next top mma fighter ... ?

2011-06-29T23:23:00.000-07:00

New Breed of Warriors Jan-Sept 2011 : Top Ten MMA fighters of Tigers Gym India[in random order]

2011-06-28T03:39:00.000-07:00

SURJE GURUNG 69 KGS

ANUP KUMAR 58 KGS

BODI RHEMA 82 KGS

MOHD SHAHID 79 KGS

RICKY RANJEET SINGH 78 KGS

CHAITANYA GAWLI 80 KGS

SUSOVAN GHOSH 54 KGS

NADEEM FAROOQUI 60 KGS

MASTVEER SINGH 85 KGS

BHARAT KHANDARE 69 KGS

The Godfather of MTV Roadies is training MMA at Evolution Mixed Martial Arts Mumbai

2011-06-20T23:45:00.000-07:00

Rajiv Lakshman , twin brother of Raghu Ram [of MTV Roadies fame] and creative head of entertainment at Colosceum Media is training mixed martial arts with the pioneer of MMA in India , Daniel Isaac. Daniel says that Rajiv is a fast learner and is naturally very strong , At this point Rajiv is working on his mma striking , wrestling and takedowns with Daniel and Jitendra , soon he will be working on his bjj and submissions with bjj and mma fighter Alan "the bull" Fenandes. Rajiv is a hardcore mma fan and supporter of the Tigers mma fight team, he also makes it a point to take time out from his super busy schedule to watch live mma action at the gym wars mma fights in Mumbai.

Tigers Gym Delhi fighter dominates under 60 kgs at Gym Wars 10 in Nasik 11th June 2011

2011-06-12T01:47:00.000-07:00

Member of team India to participate at the World Absolute MMA championships in kazakhstan last year Anup "the pitbull" from tigers gym delhi dominated the under 60 kgs categories of grappling , kickboxing and mma at gym war 10 held at tigers mma academy nasik. One of his three wins at gym wars 10 upset rising amateur mma fighter susovan ghosh from evolution mma west bengal. However in an interview after gym wars susovan said that although he lost the fight to anup fair and square there were more than one factor which had him lose , susovan is back in training with strength coach jitendra khare and is looking forward to a rematch with anup to settle the score. For more info on all the gym wars events pls add "Gym Wars" on facebook via mmaindiagymwars@gmail.com or watch full fights on www.youtube.com/mmaindiagymwars

From Nerdy Looking Bengali Babu to West Bengals Next Top MMA Fighter : the story of Susovan "Oh My" Ghosh

2011-05-30T07:24:00.001-07:00

Susovan trains under Jitendra Khare and Daniel Isaac at the Evolution MMA Mumbai training centre. He has been competing successfully in amateur mma and is looking forward to his pro mma debut next month.

2011-04-28T19:32:00.000-07:00

Gym Wars IX , Saturday 30th April 4pm at Evolution MMA Mumbai , Kandivali [west] , fighters show up to prove yourself , audience get ready to witness war ! 9890381987

MMA FIGHTERS WANTED

2011-04-19T08:05:00.000-07:00

Over the next 2 months there are some good opportunities for mma fighters on fightcards in various cities in India. If you are an mma fighter and are serious about taking some fights with travel and purse you need to get back to me asap with you fighter profile , pictures and video links tigersgym@gmail.com

My fearless lil tiger cubs

2011-04-12T04:51:00.000-07:00

Rottweilers are known to be both unpredictable and non-child friendly - quite the contrary are our rottweilers , full grown and a massive 60 kgs that they are . these security guards of our home are very very protective of my children and of our house , they allow my daughters to literally ride them around the house and yeah wait patiently while my 4 year old digs out the marrow from the marrow bones that they enjoy biting on , I guess Rottweilers need a firm command and good training if you want them to be part of the family. Exactly the way we have brought up our boys. I tried to make them friends with tayde once unfortunately they went straight for his face and missed his eye by inches. We rushed him to the hospital [thank god hes ok now] and vowed never to try to make outsiders their friends. For Rotts the principle is simple : everyone from home is family and anyone from outside the gate is an enemy - no exceptions whatsoever. Bite first enquire later

On the go meal

2011-04-12T04:45:00.000-07:00

To avoid indigestion while travelling or even while on a hectic day / training schedule one of the perfect things to eat is a subway chicken salad [either chicken or veg] , my mix is usually tons of lettuce , cucumber , crushed capsicum and onions [less onions or your gob will smell like hell] roast chicken bits , mayo and sweet onion sauces , yummy for sure and a great way to have a light on the go meal.

MMA has arrived in Pune !!!

2011-04-08T09:13:00.000-07:00

We were glad to be part of the first ever Mixed Martial Arts amateur tournament to be held in Pune. The event was held in a league system and the competitors did a great job. Our team from evolution was ringside officiating and we also had an opportunity to put up an mma demo , you can watch footage from the demo from this LINK

Our fighters and participants also had an opportunity to train with "Big" Jitendra Khare and Alan "The Bull" Fenandes. I will feature an indepth story of the visit both here and on my video blog in the coming week. Off to mumbai for some more hardcore training this week.

Happy Birthday Old Man !

2011-04-05T07:56:00.000-07:00

My father celebrated his 69th birthday last month , had a nice time with mum dad and my family , got to go out for dinner and spend some quality family time , love you dad - happy birthday , ur the man who made this whole mma thing happen in India.

Submission Expert gets Submitted !!!

2011-04-05T06:56:00.001-07:00

Raghav Rao tied the knot on the 26th of march 2011 , the submission expert and tigers guest instructor married his NRI wife in the capital last month. Congrats guys !!!

MMA flame being lit in Pune

2011-04-05T06:41:00.000-07:00

So we are off to pune city tomorrow for a demonstration and an mma seminar , we will also be officiating for an amateur mma tourney organised by Russell and his team from the flame martial arts academy , i will have some pics and video added here and on facebook on return.

40 winks and no blinks

2011-04-05T06:35:00.000-07:00

tough weekend in mumbai : travelling , training , filming , editing , uploading , eating but definately very less sleeping , so on my way back by train i managed to get a little shut eye and yeah when i was deep in sleep anoop by brother from canada called and woke me heh heh , cheers guys ! the journey continues

MMA India Video Blog Inaugural Episode

2011-04-01T15:10:00.000-07:00

Friday April 01 , 2011 : I take the 12:15 pm bus to mumbai , reach my house in goregaon at 6pm , just enough time to shower and change , 730pm Vicky meets me at Inorbit and we head to the Evolution mma gym in kandivali , 8-10pm we are training the series : fundamentals of standup fighting for mma , good hard training , 1030pm we head for dinner along with vickys wife kavi and mastveer singh , good food and friends are always a good formula especially when you have a life always on the go , midnight i reach my home in goregaon and get to talk to my wife on the phone since im missing her too much , 1am to 4am i edit / convert and upload my inaugural episode of the mma india video blog , now its time to go to bed , 9am wakeup time and 1030am is the saturday morning class at evolution mma , pls checkout the mma india video blog channel www.youtube.com/mmaindiablog hope you guys tune in regularly , share and enjoy the uploads.

A Madness called Cricket !!!

2011-03-30T02:54:00.000-07:00

Today India will witness a complete shutdown , no its not a government holiday , no ! no-one has died , no ! its not a religious festival , its another India vs Pakistan cricket one day match , damnit ! everyone at my home is watching too and even when I went over to the gym , its empty ! even tayde loves cricket !

Strength Training for MMA video series by "Big" Jitendra Khare

2011-03-27T22:26:00.001-07:00

Evolution MMA Mumbai presents Strength training for MMA with "Big" Jitendra Khare , the strength and conditioning coach of the mma fighters of the tigers international fight team. In this series Jitendra explains the importance of weight training for mma fighters and demonstrates its practical applications in specific moves and techniques of the mma fight game. Keep checking back for this series on youtube , click here to directly so to the evolution mma youtube channel. Videos will be added and updated every week.

Happy birthday to my brother

2011-03-23T00:57:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday Vicky ! May you submit [sit on] many many more sceptics this year

Funny Posters in India Part 1

2011-03-19T05:09:00.000-07:00

Ok So im driving down sv road in goregaon , mumbai and vicky needs to stop and re-fuel the car , just outside the petrol station is this poster of an adventure camp which has all the activities listed , one of which are ... yes your eyes didnt deceive you "Raping" ... they say "slip of the tongue no fault of the mind" but what say ye to this ? "slip of the pen" ???

2 years ago i travel with Dangal Singh to fight in Calicut , we stop outside this mall and see this poster of a restaurant or somethin ... something doesnt look right in the poster , too humiliating to the chicken community lol

The BJJ-India Connection part 6 : Think again

2011-03-18T08:23:00.001-07:00

Mirza Bashir Ahmad visited us from the US in march 2009 , although he visited us to train in mma , he was also a good training partner for Alan. They both exchanged knowledge on their grappling skills.

Raghav Rao during his first visit to nasik at the old tigers gym training facility.

Christian Graugart , bjj brown belt from denmark watching over and correcting positions while Alan and Vicky roll.

Vicky , helping the beginners understand the basics of the ground game at the Evolution MMA Mumbai gym.

Its easy for anyone to take us at our face value and say "Oh bjj is at a very low level in India" or "yeah mma exists in India but its at the very grassroot level" , I would think quite the contrary my friends. If you would compare us to the other countries all of who have BJJ black belts stationed and working on a long term basis with them I think we have been doing pretty well. yes we do have access to high level grappling instructors at regular intervals but even though we dont have our own dedicated inhouse bjj black belt what we do have is a very dedicated and ever learning team of grapplers lead by Alan Fenandes. Our mission is to strive for excellence and perfection and with our entire team of ex-judokas and ex-wrestlers there to support us Im sure we will get there pretty soon. All said and done - if you have an experience in teaching bjj / grappling for mma and are interested to come over to our gyms and work with us for a while we can definately help get you a place to stay and good food to eat. If you believe in us and want to work with us on a long term basis for bjj in India send me an email on tigersgym@gmail.com and we will talk. Hope you all enjoyed reading the BJJ-India Connection article.[to be continued for a long long time lol]

The BJJ-India Connection part 5 : Travelling / Training abroad

2011-03-18T08:06:00.000-07:00

Picture : Alan receives his bjj blue belt from Carlos Santos in Abudhabi UAE , Carlos was originally from the brazilian top team and presently heads the bjj program in Abudhabi.

Picture : Alan regards a significant change / improvement in his bjj when he travelled to ubon thailand to train at the prestigious legacy gym. Alan trained alongside K1 max japan star Ole Laursen , Art of War star Malik Maylayi , Kazuto Senga and UFC fighter Per Eklund during his one month stay at Legacy.

Continuing our pursuit of the mma dream we have regularly sent our fighters abroad to train bjj / mma. Alan received his blue belt when he travelled to Abudhabi and has continued to improve his grappling skills everytime he travels to train abroad. Alan is the head of the bjj / grappling division at tigers gym and evolution mma and continues to both train himself and also help prepare the local fighters to perfect their grappling.[Continued in part 6]

The BJJ-India Connection part 4

2011-03-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

Picture : Matteo Biscottini of Italy [bjj/pankration instructor] was the first to visit tigers gym and teach our team the basics of bjj and grappling for mma.
Martin Hensch from California USA visited us in 2008 and shared valuable knowlede on yoga and its importance in bjj and grappling , martin helped prepare alan before his no-gi bjj tournament in abudhabi.
Oron Ben Simon a Royce Gracie certified bjj blue belt from Israel has been regularly visiting us over the last couple of years , Ben has a very agressive style of grappling and i always end up getting injured when he rolls with me.lol

Pedro Schmall , a royler gracie black belt from brazil was the first authentic bjj black belt to visit and teach in India. Pedro is an excellent instructor and helped prepare some of our fighters before the Martial Combat Singapore shows.

Raghav Rao , a senior blue belt bjj from the prestigious eddie bravos 10th planet jiu-jitsu also regularly visits us to update the fighters / students on their bjj training.

Overseas BJJ instructors who visited Tigers Gym / Evolution MMA : Soonafter our website was online and people started reading about us on sherdog , bjjasia and a few other website I started getting emails from so many people in the bjj / grappling community. Some we brutally critical about my work and some even told me that i should step down and allow someone else to take on the responsibility of promoting mma / bjj in India. And then there those emails from to-be friends who wanted to come over to India and work with our students / fighters to help them understand more about bjj. Here are some of those important people who have a special place in our hearts. People who have understand us and our vision and continue to be part of our MMA / BJJ India team. Cheers guys ! [Continued in part 5]

The BJJ India Connection part 3

2011-03-18T07:02:00.001-07:00

Competing in BJJ tournaments without even knowing bjj tournament rules : Between 2007 and 2009 our team started competing in bjj tournaments in the region and the funny thing is that we even managed to secure a few medals without actually even knowing the bjj rules of the tournaments. All in all we managed to secure a few bronze medals and even one gold in the beginners category. Our boys competed in both gi and no-gi grappling tournaments in Abudhabi UAE. It was a good learning experience for our team and all of those wrestling moves and of course the bjj videos definately came handy.The photo above features alan at the no-gi bjj event in 2009 and the one below is alan competing at the bjj gi tournament in 2007. The team continues to participate at local bjj tournaments. (Continued in part 4)

The BJJ-India Connection part 2

2011-03-18T06:21:00.000-07:00

My first BJJ session : In 2003-4 I visited the UK a few times during which i got to train with some of worlds top instructors. One of those visits took me to Rotherham where I attended my first ever bjj/grappling class under Master Cris janson-piers , Master Cris worked with WAKO UK and was also part of the UK jiu-jitsu team. It was during that time that I actually learnt some of the basics of bjj and understood how important it was to blend the grappling and striking training while teaching mma fundamentals to the students in India. Continued in part 3

The BJJ-India Connection part 1

2011-03-18T05:32:00.000-07:00

We we began promoting mma in the year 2000 it all started with our own experiments on the mat , we had absolutely no idea how to apply any chokehold or submission properly , all we had access to was hundreds and hundreds of bjj and mma dvds , everytime i visited a foreign country i made it a point to pickup dvds and more dvds. In those days all we did was watch the dvds and experiement. There was this old kusthi akhara in bhagur [at the outskirts of devlali , nasik] and a friend of my fathers offered the facility for us to train with our team. A few weeks later and the local kusthi wrestlers found us doing something they thought was "wrong wrestling" and offered to show us the correct moves , when we told them that this wasnt regular wrestling they started to gather together and watch us do our own version of submission wrestling, soon the 'watching' changed to "jeers" and after a couple of weeks we had a whole group of the local wrestlers sitting around laughing and watching our "funny" wrestling sessions until one evening when i invited some of the ring-leaders to come join us in a grappling session , so the toughest looking guy with bulging muscles and cauliflower ears stepped onto the mat while his fellow wrestlers cheered him on , a crowd gathered around to see what would happen , my adopted brother alan fenandes who had watched a few bjj videos and knew just about one gullotine and maybe half an arm-bar took on the challenge , as expected the wrestler charged in and took alan to the ground but to his surprise got caught with an arm-in gullotine , wrestlers usually pop their head out naturally when they rush in for the takedown but rather than tapping [since they didnt know how to tap] the wrestler went to sleep when alan tightened the choke , after a few minutes of reviving the wrestler and a couple of words exchanged between both groups the wrestlers figured out that this style of wrestling was definately effective and worth trying out , this is how our journey with bjj began. After this we temporarily had a group of the local wrestlers training with us , I would say that those days definately benefited our team since grappling with those wrestlers helped us understand the fundamentals of wrestling and how important it was for our mma game , some of them got hooked and and joined the team - bharat "beast" khandare is one of those wrestlers , while the others returned to their age old tradition of kusthi wrestling and kusthi dangals. Unfortunately i heard later on that the owner of the wrestling facility wasnt too keen on his boys shifting over to bjj or mma and gave his boys a taking to , sad but true otherwise im sure many of those wrestlers could have become prospective grapplers representing India. Picture above : two of the wrestlers that began training with us but later left to pursue their kusthi career.[contd in part 2]

Another BJJ instructor visits India

2011-03-18T03:23:00.001-07:00

Over the last few weeks we have been super busy both at the Nasik and the Mumbai gyms , last week however was particularly special. Christian Graugart a bjj brown belt from Denmark stopped over at our gyms to share some valuable knowledge with our students and fighters. Everyone had a great time learning with Christian and after intently observing his teaching style its important to mention that Christians style of teaching stressed so much on the fundamentals and the missing links in our grappling. His classes and sessions broke down every simple move and pass in such a way that it was literally as if we got to watch that technique under a microscope.Over the past few months everyone at the mumbai gym were highly pissed of at both Alan and myself as we stressed on perfecting basics and fundamentals and spending hours on each specific technique rather than rushing to learn new technques. Christian made our work a lot easier by stressing

on the very same thing as he put the guys through almost 3 hours of gruelling drills involving simple fundamentals. One session I especially enjoyed was the wrestling for mma class at the nasik centre , the specific correction of posture that he addressed with the fighters was superb. Christian was kind enough to be patient with all the questions and doubts thrown at him during every class , he worked with the students and fighters for basic drills , he worked separately with Vicky to help put the prospective blue belts through preparation of the new drills and he worked with Alan to help improve his bjj for mma and encouraged Alan to make a comeback this year. I of course was forced to sit with the video camera throughout every session as everyone selfishly never even once opted to film so i cud get to train with Christian , anyways no problem one of these days ill take some months off , head to brazil and who knows may comeback with a bjj black belt and submit all your asses together , ha ha hope you all enjoyed the training , Christian hope we made your trip memorable and thanks for all the time you shared with us , you are welcome to visit us anytime brother ! here are some links of Christians bjj globetrotting visits :

Goodbye India

Day # 2 in Nashik

Nashik Zombie

The Mumbai Gunshow

Living the MMA India Dream

2011-03-18T03:04:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong is a beautiful place but one place in HK is particularly special to me ...

The big man upstairs [and i dont mean heaven]

2011-03-18T02:46:00.000-07:00

Three years ago a very old student of mine joined hands with me and was responsible for mma / bjj beginning in mumbai , Jitendra Khare whom we all call "Vicky sir" is a member of the core team of tigers gym , tigers mma academy and evolution mma mumbai. Vicky has also trained in judo and has been helping me prepare mma fighters especially when they are making the transition from judo or wrestling to mma. Vicky is also very well versed in strength and conditioning training and easily lifts weights that the whole team would stuggle together with , its very difficult to be his partner when he pushes weights at the upstair weight training facility at evolution mma gym. Fighters , dont miss this opportunity , sign up with vicky to put a good strength and conditioning program to your mma training , its a whole hellava difference when you throw a punch just out of years of boxing and throw the same punch after years of boxing AND some strength training. Vicky is available for group training and private training sessions at the evolution mma gym in mumbai , vicky is also available for seminars / consultancy if you want to invite him to your gym or training centre.

I stand alone with an army of friends ... we will overcome

2011-03-17T11:35:00.000-07:00

... And miles to go before I sleep , the journey seems long and difficult with many hurdles and critics standing in my path , but I will strive to push forward and fight the good fight.

Farmer boy training mma

2011-03-17T02:04:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago , this farmer guy named sandeep walks into tigers mma in nasik and wants to know whats happening here , we tell him its an mma gym - he cant figure out what we're talking about , anyways our front desk guy shows him around the place and hes interested seing all the training gear and the posters of alan on the walls , can i become like him ? he asks - referring to alans poster , why not replies the front desk guy , sandeep signs up frankly not knowing what hes getting into , a few weeks later i hold the pads for him and the guy has some raw power , seriously this farmer boy has no fight experience whatsoever , not even wrestling but hes strong , pretty strong , this is the kind of raw talent that rural india posseses , here him doing beginner level pads with me , pretty awesome if you ask me , thanks again to tayde for filming the video and for permitting me to bring my cam / mobile into the training area.

40 winks in between training sessions

2011-03-17T01:54:00.000-07:00

Training begins at 7am and some days I have to shuffle between tigers mma academy and golds gym , today began early and this is me catching a quick power nap before i take on the next session shhhhhh ..... tayde so kindly took this picture without my permission , now talk about enforcing gym rules huh !

Housekeeping Boss Tigers MMA Academy

2011-03-17T01:48:00.000-07:00

This is Sandeep Tayde , hes the caretaker of the tigers mma academy and looks after housekeeping , but dont think lil dude is a pushover , hes a black belt in karate and started learning mma 6 years ago , hes very strict where cleanliness in the gym is concerned , he strictly enforces the gym rules posted on the entrance door and makes sure shoes arent allowed in the training centre , if he catches you with your mobile or camera in the training area he will confiscate it and God knows when he will return it to you , well all said and done this lil dude respects the training centre as his temple and its because of him that tigers mma academy is kept neat clean and tidy , if you stayover at tigers when at training , hes the guy who will make sure that lights are off at 9pm and your up and awake at 6am , remember van damme getting woken up by his thai master in kickboxer the movie ? similar scenario , thanks sandeep ! youre da man !

The Toughest SOBs in India : The Tigers team

2011-03-16T12:14:00.000-07:00

Enjoy the video , share it with the world !

Dadar to Kandivali by local train

2011-03-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

Travelling by local train between dadar and kandivali station to get to evolution mma gym is one crazy adventure , heres why

Alans poster on Calicut beach ! Alan youre a star !

2011-03-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

Was driving thru calicut beach and stopped to click this poster ... pretty cool !

Odomos ka jawab nahin !

2011-03-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

Somehow the nationwide mosquito community have a very good communication infrastructure where im concerned , everywhere i go i seem to be swarmed by mossies , while in calicut the first night they were so many in my hotel room that i was actually being picked up and carried around in celebration by tons of them , thus i stepped out in the middle of the night and got my lifesaver , odomos where would i be without you ! a note to the odomos company : you dont need to pay me for this incase you think this is an advertisment , im doin this in gratitude ... lol