Mixed Martial Arts sees rising popularity in Bangladesh

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a discipline of martial arts which has been garnering global popularity over the last decade or so.

The advent of MMA has intrigued people to take martial arts as a hobby with the hope to lead a healthier lifestyle.

The MMA is pretty self-explanatory with its naming. It is just the amalgamation of numerous disciplines of combat sports.

The entire concept can be reduced to three simple bases which are striking, grappling, and submission.

Punches, kicks, chokeholds, bone-crushing armbars, and kimuras are just the tip of the iceberg when talking about the offence used. Defence is also an integral part of MMA as parrying, dodging and weaving, submission defence, leg kick checks are taught in any MMA gym.

Fighter Monjur in Knockout Fight Night Championship, India

MMA’s popularity in Bangladesh rocketed mostly due to the UFC 229 which had Khabib vs Mcgregor as the main event for the undisputed Lightweight Championship.

There is also a huge fan base of MMA regardless of Khabib’s popularity, where fans tune into Sony Six every Sunday morning to watch the weekly UFC event (either a fight night or a Pay-per-view event).

Apart from UFC, Bellator and ONE FC are two other promotions which are also offering competitive bouts.

Regardless of a professional fighting career, MMA can be a great physical activity to incorporate into one’s healthy lifestyle.

Grappling, punching, and kicking are great activities for strength and conditioning. Furthermore, the cardio of a person can be drastically improved with a mixed regiment of MMA workouts.

It is advised to try out different aspects of MMA and find out what suits you best. In addition to physical fitness, the philosophy of fighting is one of the oldest branches of philosophy which can most certainly help in gaining mental fitness.

Following the footsteps of the rest of the world, the trend of incorporating MMA in gym workouts is starting to gain popularity in Bangladesh as well. One of the pioneers in this regard, Habib’s MMA academy, located at the Biddut office of Kamrangichor was created by Habib ‘The FireBird’ Parves, a professional MMA fighter turned trainer with a record of 2-2-0.

Soul of warriors Bangladesh vs India championship

His vision is to train talented Bangladeshis and gain recognition on the International stage. His gym consists of 8 professional fighters and 60 amateur fighters.

“I started my journey in Martial arts with Karate for self-defence,” said Habib Parves.

“I transitioned to Taekwondo from Karate. Later on, I started to practice Wushu competitively and won a gold medal as well. But I always found my skill set to be quite limited, especially in the field of grappling.

“From that point on, I took MMA lessons from Liton Halder and achieved success while competing in India.”

Thanks to the training provided by Habib in his MMA Academy, Bangladeshis themselves have been making quite the name when it comes to the MMA scene of this sub-continent.

4 of the 5 fighters mentored won their bouts at the Boom Open Asia championships 2019 in India.

One year later, 3 of the 4 participating fighters who were also under the banner of Habib’s MMA Academy at the Soul of Warriors Bangladesh vs India Championships won their bouts (Md Hussain Kobir, Md Rayhan, Md Amranul Foysal).

Habib Parvej participting in the 2007 Boom MMA Championship held in Kolkata, where he was able to bag the gold medal.

When asked about the obstacles in running such a niche academy, Habib said that, “Funds are quite scarce which makes it difficult to get good quality equipment and dedicated foreign coaches for the fighters.”

“The participation of women in MMA is also important to promote diversity among the masses,” he added.

The MMA scene in Bangladesh has seen great success with proportion to the attention and funding it gets. Western MMA scene is heavily funded by all the mega-corporations which ultimately helps it to flourish and produce better athletes.

Bangladesh is also in need of such corporate funding and promotion to help the fighters flourish and bring glory for the flag.

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