THROW A PUNCH

Siddharth Singh, a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) coach and a jiu-jitsu fighter, is mentoring the next generation to make India's MMA dream a reality. Singh has been representing India for 12 years in jiu-jitsu and has been competing in MMA all over the world for the past 25 years.

- AKASH CHATTERJEE

The popularity of Mixed Martial Arts (a full combat sport that includes techniques from other sports like boxing, wrestling, and jiu-jitsu) or MMA is so high in the United States that last November, the newly-elect US President Donald Trump was seen attending an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event in New York. Although India is sports-crazy, MMA is relatively unknown and that was a challenge for Siddharth Singh, who quit his job in the UK to become India's first black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and a four-time world champion. Singh wants to take the game to the grassroots through his Crosstrain Fight Club. Anshul Jubli, 30, who trained at the club and created history by becoming India's first UFC fighter in 2022, is one of his proteges.

Singh himself has won five medals in the Abu Dhabi World Masters Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2020, AJP Tour Dubai International Pro-GI, AJP Tour UAE National Pro-GI, AJP Tour Asia Continental Pro-GI, and Abu Dhabi World Masters Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2022. Nationally, he won the Indian Championship for the 10th time in 2023 and was also selected for the Asian Games in China in 2023.