MMA Scene in India: Interview with Daniel Isaac
Photo: www.tigersgym.com
Considered a pioneer of MMA in India, Daniel Isaacs, who runs Tigers Gym in Nashik, India, takes some time out of his schedule to shed some light on the state of MMA in India.
What is the MMA scene in India like right now?
The COTC shows [Clash of the Champions] are held still held once every year , all year round we organise the TGO tour [the Tigers Gym open] which is the event that the up and coming fighters get to showcase their skills. We also have a twice yearly grappling event which has both Indian wrestling [kusthi] and submission wrestling divisions [no-gi] and then we also have “Fight Night” which is a series of small international shows done all year round which is done of the same lines as the early UFCs [style vs style]. The only difference is that its usually our Tigers Gym MMA fighters versus the traditional martial arts stylists so this would be what the typical fight card would look like :
mma vs karate
mma vs kickboxing
mma vs wrestling
mma vs judo
mma vs boxing
Who are the most talented fighters right now?
Our best all round MMA fighter would be Vishal Balkawde who fights at 85 kgs and is the reigning COTC champion as well as the first indian to win gold at the Abu Dhabi Brazilian jiu-jitsu internationals held in the UAE in may 2007.Next up would be Alan Fenandes who is also an excellent grappler and our most experienced fighter and shortly after him would be our striker Jafar Khezeli.You can see their profiles , video and links on http://www.tigersgym.com/fighters.html
Are Indians aware of the UFC or any other big MMA promotions and are they able to watch any of them on television?
The first MMA show to hit Indian TV was Pride, its been on TV for the past year now, then we also have TUF season 1, which has been running and re-running for about 4 times now [laughs]. We also have some Cage Rage [early] shows , nowadays we have the IFL and also surprisingly the WCL on TV. At Tigers Gym it’s different , we have partners and supporters all over the world who supply our Tigers Gym video library with every major MMA show DVDs from every part of the MMA world , so our fighters are up to date with the latest info on all the latest and up and coming MMA stars in the world. So while other Indians are still watching Wanderlei Silva beginning his MMA career on Pride telecasts, our fighters have already seen him get KOd by Dan Henderson at the Pride Vegas show. While Indians are still in the aura of the Pride hyped shows in Japan, our boys know that the UFC has already bought Pride, and sacked the entire Tokyo office staff.
Where do you see the scene going in 5 years?
I’ve been hearing from major promoters from all over the world who are interested in investing in the Indian market. I see some good things happening for India’s MMA scene soon.
What’s new in your gym?
We are promoting 27 of the best fighters from India , Pakistan , Sri Lanka and Iran; we have a new coach and some awesome new talent. Our fighters train 6 days of the week and are hungry for some good fights.
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[...] held at the Tigers indoor stadium in Nasik India on May 16 and 17. The stadium is home to the Tigers fight team and Tigers gym. Approximately 200 enthusiastic martial artists from various backgrounds [...]