INDIA: 2008 ASIAN OPEN MMA CHAMPIONSHIPS

NASIK'S TIGERS GYM DOMINATES 2008 ASIAN OPEN MMA CHAMPIONSHIPS AND COTC FIGHT NIGHT SHOW

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Nasik India - The fighters of the internationally famous 'tigers gym' from nasik once again proved their mettle by dominating the wins at the 2nd Asian Open amateur mma championships which was held at balkawde indoor stadium, bhagur devlali on 16th May.The event was attended by a packed stadium of mma enthusiasts and martial arts fighters from all over the country including West Bengal , Tamil Nadu , Karnataka and Kerala.The 1st Asian Open amateur MMA championships was succesfully held last year at Fravashi International Academy , Gangapur Nasik.

Mixed Martial Arts or MMA is a 'reality fighting sport'based on the three styles of martial arts fighting : 1]standing up fighting[boxing , kickboxing muay thai] , takedowns [judo , wrestling] and submission fighting [jiu-jitsu] And India is proud to have Daniel Isaac as the pioneer of both MMA training and MMA Championships for the country. Daniel Isaac began conducting MMA training at Tigers gym since the year 2000 and founded the tigers international fight team in 2003 , since then many top mma fighters from tigers gym have competed and won at international mma events. The All India Combat Sports Federation[AICSF] and the All India Kickboxing Council [AIKC] both have headquarters in Nasik and jointly host national and international MMA events in India.

International and National fighters arrived in Nasik road on the 14th of May and the official weigh-ins and rules meetings were held at the tigers gym office nasik road on the 15th which was presided by the organising commitee led by Jitu Jain [AICSF event co-ordinator] and Shyam Godse [AIKC gen secretary].Vice President of the AICSF Lorelei Isaac welcomed the fighters and team managers at the official rules meeting.AICSF safety and medical team led by chief of med dept Dr S Rajasab of West Bengal expained the importance of safety to the fighters attending the event.

Advocate Gorakhnath Balkawde and Daniel Isaac led the fighters at the opening ceremony as the 200 plus fighters sang the National Anthem.The amateur mma championships were held on the 15th & 16th May from 11am-6m during which aspiring amateur mma fighters competed and gave their best to prove that they are the best amateur mma fighters in India.Aslam Nabilal Nadaf of the Sangli Muay Thai gym defeated Ghumare Moreshwar of Bulls gym Nasik in a hard fought technical bout to win 54-57kg category.Andrew Canday of Bulls Gym Nasik defeated Suresh Yadav of the Howrah Top Team , andrew finished the fight in 45 seconds of the opening bell by submitting Yadav by a rear neck choke.Swapnil Barve of tigers gym lost to Devendra Surendra Gharwadve of Busawal boxers in the finals of the k1 kickboxing event.

On the 17th of May "Clash of the Champions - Fight Night" was held featuring some of the top professional mma fighters from India. This event is usually held following every Asian Open MMA event to give inspiration to up and coming amateur fighters since the fight card of this event always features top mma stars who represent India on the asian and world mma stage. Bhupesh Kamble[Tigers gym] defeated B Umashankar[Chennai Muay Thai] by first round KO in the heavyweight K1 rules bout. Abhijeet Petkar[Tigers gym nasik] beat Javed Zamir Mulla [Sangli Muay Thai Gym] in an exciting 3 round heavyweight fight. Sandeep Tayade [Tigers Gym] defeated champion fighter of the Sangli Muay Thai gym Parkash Shreepati Awale in a closely fought 3 round battle and "Superkick" Shafiq-ur-rehman [Tigers gym] defeated challenger Ajay Ghodajkar [Sangli Muay Thai] by submitting him with an arm-bar lock within 30 seconds of the first round.Ajay Ghodajkar is the 2007-2008 WAKO Pro[India] 65 kgs champion and was sent as a special rep fighter of WAKO Pro [India] to challenge the COTC champion Shafiq. The Tigers gym team of both amateur and pro fighters was coached by indian mma star Alan "The Bull" Fenandes.

-TIGERS GYM