“As a kid, I was always drawn to martial arts movies. Back then, Mithun Chakraborty’s action films were quite popular, and they made me want to learn martial arts myself. Like most parents, mine wanted me to focus on studies, but my interest in martial arts only grew stronger. Eventually, I left school to train full-time.

I started with Indian mud wrestling and later moved on to Karate, where I trained for nearly eight years. Over time, I picked up Judo, Muay Thai, and Kickboxing, competing in several national-level tournaments. But it was Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) that truly changed everything for me. Once I started training in MMA, there was no looking back.

Though I had to stop competing at one point due to certain circumstances, I didn’t want to step away from the sport. In 2010, I took up coaching and started training young fighters. By 2012, when MMA started gaining recognition in India, I had already trained several students in Muay Thai, and many of them transitioned into MMA.

MMA isn’t just about fitness or fighting—it builds discipline, resilience, and self-defense skills. That’s why I wanted to make it more accessible. In 2012, I started my MMA training club, and over the years, my students have won more than 50 national medals and five international medals. After Telangana was formed in 2014, I established the Telangana Association of Mixed Martial Arts (TAMMA) to provide structured training and even introduced free coaching for those who couldn’t afford it.

Today, I have trained several hundred students who have won medals at national and international levels. Despite this, MMA still doesn’t get the recognition it deserves in Hyderabad and India. It’s time we see it on par with other sports.

For me, coaching isn’t just about training fighters. It’s about building strong, disciplined individuals who take these lessons beyond the ring. That’s what MMA has done for me, and that’s what it continues to do for so many others.”
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• Shaikh Khalid, MMA Coach, Team India