No holds barred: MMA arrives in city

 

City trio ventures into ‘Xtreme Fight Club’

By Paritosh Pramanik

COLOURFULLY-LIT octagon shaped arena caged with thick chain fencing, fighters going for ‘blood’ of opponents, spectators rooting for their favourite fighter... it is a usual scene in the United States where Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is an extremely popular sport. Now, experience all the thrill right here in Nagpur. The MMA has arrived in style!
Mixed Martial Art, which is growing at a steady pace in the country, has found a place in Nagpur too. Two Nagpur businessmen and a MMA professional have joined hands to form ‘Xtreme Akhaada’, which aims at promoting the sport at national level while giving players a chance to show their skills and potential.
‘Xtreme Akhaada’ is started by businessmen Rohit Buty, Vishesh Agarwal and Martial Arts Professional Deepak Udair. These three young and energetic men decided to deliver some real entertainment to the city and spread its wings in the country.
‘Xtreme Akhaada’ kick-started its activities recently with the ‘WAR - Warriors and Ragers.’ The first-ever event was a grand success as it saw MMA players from various cities battle it out for top honours.
Young businessman Rohit Buty is the brain behind MMA coming to Nagpur. “Since I started practising martial art, it was my dream to bring MMA to Nagpur. We started planning some six months back sometime in January,” Buty told ‘The Hitavada’.
“Every fight raised the bar for the event as well as the players. The event was well organised with all protocols in place and was also very successful,” Buty added.
Buty wants to take MMA to all parts of the country. “India is still unexposed to the world of Mixed Martial Arts and we have come to realise the massive untapped potential that our fighters have to offer. We plan to take WAR - Warriors and Ragers to every city in India before we conquer the globe. These will be the premier MMA events across India in the coming years,” Buty said.
“Our next step is to take WAR to Raipur, Pune, Nashik, Mumbai and Delhi. We already have a line-up prepared for these cities and are just waiting for the pandemic situation to stabilise before we go full throttle. By this yearend we intend to start a Fight League in which we shall be creating inter-city teams and auctioning the best players in the country to compete on a platform never seen before,” Buty elaborated on their future plans.
Partner Vishesh Agarwal said that the MMA was not only about fights. It was a platform which would give the enthusiasts entertainment of five hours.
“Don’t think about our fight nights as just MMA. Think about it as a 4-5 hour entertainment event which you enjoy with your friends and family clubbed with multiple high adrenaline acts and programme with the main focus – LIVE MMA Fights. We don’t want unnecessary spectators but what we want is limited, passionate crowd so that we can get our spectators as close to the action as possible. This is a rich man’s spectator sport and our events cater to such a crowd with full hospitality,” Agarwal said.
‘Xtreme Akhaada’ also has a legal team in place to make it more transparent.
“Courtesy our legal team, all our events were conducted smoothly. Our company is well protected. Unlike various other MMA events across India, our business model is a bit different and our investors are very happy with our deliverables,” said Agarwal.
“We promise you that this year’s Diwali is going to be Xtreme,” added Agarwal.
Udair, the professional martial art karateka who has dedicated his life to Martial Arts and is a Black Belt in Taekwon-do (3rd Dan, International Coach and Referee) said, “I have had training in MMA for two years in Japan and I am currently imparting coaching to over 100 students the art of MMA. It has always been my dream to give an opportunity and platform to Indian fighters to compete, as MMA is still underappreciated and undervalued in India,” Udair said.
“My dream is to train an Indian to become the world champion and through our company and WAR we intend to realise this dream. So far we have inventory of more than 200 fighters who wish to compete in our events and the numbers keep growing. We ensure that all the competing fighters are medically vetted, insured and certified to compete as well as protected by our team of competent doctors to ensure that all participants are safe and not harmed in any way,” explained Udair.