Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan

Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan.

Type	Private
Industry	Mixed martial arts promotion
Founded	December 2007
Founder(s)	Bashir Ahmad[1]
Headquarters	Lahore, Pakistan
Key people	Bashir Ahmad, Chairman/CEO/President Mohammad Afzal, VP Public Relations Ali Naseer, VP Regulatory Affairs
Website	http://www.pak-mma.com/

Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan (or PAK MMA) is the premiere mixed martial arts (MMA) and martial arts promotion based in Pakistan that was created in December 2007 by Bashir Ahmad to promote Martial Arts (and Martial Sports such as Boxing and Wrestling) styles in Pakistan with a particular focus on Mixed Martial Arts competition.

From organizing seminars all around Pakistan to having the first mixed martial arts event in the country, Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan has had a huge amount of success in being the first organization to promote MMA in Pakistan.

History

After being inspired by the early UFC events, Bashir Ahmad thought about bringing the sports of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) to Pakistan. Having a background in different martial arts including Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Boxing, which he studied in Thailand and USA respectively, he started giving free classes in his home town to all the kids in the community during one of his visits to Pakistan in Winter, 2007.

Returning in the spring of 2008 he rented out a small apartment to start his very own MMA training gym in his home town calling it The Slaughter House^[2], which consisted of a heavy bag for striking and a thin layer of foam for grappling, this served as the first MMA training centre in the country, the gym ran till the spring of 2009 until Bashir Ahmad left his home town to promote MMA in the major cities of the country.

Milestones Achieved by PAK MMA

PAK MMA member, Bashir Ahmad demonstrating the triangle choke during the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu seminar in Karachi on 15 December.

First Brazilian JiuJitsu seminar in Pakistan

The first ever Brazilian JiuJitsu (BJJ) seminar in Pakistan was organized by Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan in Karachi on 15 December 2010. This event served as the foundation of promoting MMA in the country and as well as getting the name of Pakistan in the international MMA scene.^{[3] [4]}

Pakistan Warrior Challenge

Pakistan Warrior Challenge, the first MMA event of Pakistan, organized by PAK MMA. It followed the same principle of UFC 1, "Style vs Style", the event took place on 28 February 2010, in Lahore and introduced the country to the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.^[5]

Shaheen MMA Academy is the premiere MMA gym in Pakistan where people from all over the country come to train.

Synergy MMA Academy

Synergy MMA Academy (formerly known as Shaheen MMA Academy (http://www.club-synergy.com/) is the first mainstream MMA gym of Pakistan, it is owned and operated by Bashir Ahmad in Lahore,Pakistan under the PAK MMA banner, the gym is the first of it's kind, opening in March of 2010, it is the center of all MMA events in the country and is home of Pakistan's first MMA fight team Team Shaheen. The gym organizes and holds many events and fights featuring fighters from all over Pakistan, popularly known as Shaheen Smokers.

International fighters

Shah 'No Pain' Hussain is a Professional Mixed Martial Artist who is British born and bred and of Pakistani origin. Shah fights out of Slough, Berkshire, UK and trains out of Team Crossface under the guidance of UFC and Cage Rage veteran Dave Lee, Shah is the first Pakistani Professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter fighting under the PAK MMA banner.^[6]

The cage constructed by PAK MMA, affectionately known as "the paktagon".

Fighters only magazine

Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan was featured in Fighters Only Magazine which is the only Mixed Martial Arts publication in the United Kingdom. The article features the growth of MMA in South Asia and how PAK MMA has played a vital role in putting Pakistan on the map of South Asian countries getting into MMA.^[7]

Collaboration with international promoters

PAK MMA collaborated with international fight promoters "Three Beards Promotion" in organizing the first professional MMA event in South Asia that was conducted inside an international level octagonal cage, known as Pak Fight Club at the Punjab Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan . PAK MMA was responsible for the construction of the cage and organizing the event, the event was a huge success drawing hundreds of people from all over Lahore.^[8][9]

Pak Fight Club

The first Pak Fight Club or PFC took place in Lahore, Pakistan which was the first professional MMA event in South Asia. Due to the success of the first PAK MMA is planning on holding several more PFC's in the near future. Due to the number of fighters in Pakistan, PAK MMA is holding tryouts before the PFC where fighters earn the right to fight at professional level.

Fighters all over Pakistan came to take part in the PFC, Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Gujjar Khan, Quetta, Multan just to name a few.

Further reading

• Fighters Only Article on PAKMMA
• MMA Digest interview with Bashir Ahmad

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ http://www.pak-mma.com/?p=359
3. ^ http://www.pak-mma.com/?p=496
4. ^ http://www.pak-mma.com/?p=498
5. ^ http://www.pak-mma.com/?p=577
6. ^ http://www.pak-mma.com/?p=62
7. ^ http://www.issuu.com/pakmma/docs/fighters_only_article
8. ^ http://www.pak-mma.com/?p=783
9. ^ http://www.pak-mma.com/?p=775

External links

• Official website
• Video on YouTube
• Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan on Facebook