Owais Yaqoob now aims to prepare for professional and international championships, for which more organized training is required.
Srinagar, J&K –
In the recently held 4th edition of Mixed Martial Art (MMA) India National Championship 2021, Owais Yaqoob finished second in the Male – Welter Weight category.
Owais Yaqoob, the youngster from Murran village of Pulwama district, said that he fought his way towards achieving the highest points in his category, but various other parameters like career span and matches made his rank to settle at number 2.
“When I entered into the Cage for the first time in a national event, my heart was racing. However, I had trained properly which gave me confidence. Ultimately, I fought and my opponents bit the dust,” Owais Yaqoob said.
Although Zarmawia from Mizoram emerged as the winner in the MMA’s Welter Weight category, Owais still managed to beat some of the toughest fighters as his opponents during the national championship.
“For every round spanning nine minutes, I used to take just 2 odd minutes to beat my opponents,” he said, with a sparkling smile.
Owais now aims to prepare for professional and international championships, for which more organized training is required. To focus on his goal, he continues to enhance training hours himself as well as help other interested youth at his academy “Lion’s Den”.
Speaking about Mixed Martial Art, the youth called it a top-level sport as it includes everything, from boxing, kicking, kickboxing to wrestling and ground & pound.
From the last many years, Owais Yaqoob is running his academy in Pulwama for training young fighters and has good number of boys enrolled as well.
Asking youth to get involved in the MMA, he says it is the best way to ‘spend’ your energy to stay fit and be away from the ever-increasing menace of drug abuse in the Valley.
The 4th MMA India National’s 2021 championship was held at Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh from February 19 to 21, featuring some of the best amateur MMA fighters in the country.
It is pertinent to mention here that MMA India is the sole representative and member of the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation.
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