“As a kid, I was always drawn to martial arts movies. Their action and discipline fascinated me and made me want to learn martial arts myself. While my parents wanted me to focus on studies, my interest only grew, and eventually, I left school to train full time.

I began with Indian mud wrestling before moving into Karate, where I trained for nearly eight years. Over time, I learned Judo, Muay Thai, and Kickboxing, competing in several national-level tournaments. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) truly changed my life, and once I stepped into it, there was no looking back.

Circumstances forced me to stop competing, but I didn’t want to leave the sport. In 2010, I started coaching young fighters in Hyderabad. By 2012, when MMA was beginning to gain recognition in India, many of my students, already strong in Muay Thai and Wushu, transitioned into MMA, and their hard work soon brought medals.

In 2014, after Telangana was formed, I established the Telangana Amateur Mixed Martial Arts Association (TAMMA) to give fighters a structured platform. Over the years, my students have earned more than 50 national medals and five international medals in MMA championships. One of the proudest moments came in 2018 when my student Mohammed Mahboob Khan became the first Indian to win a gold medal at the IMMAF World Championships in Bahrain, a landmark achievement for Indian MMA.

In 2022, Telangana emerged overall champions at the 5th MMA India National Championship in Neemuch, winning 14 medals including 8 gold, 3 silver, and 3 bronze. Fighters like Mahboob Khan showed that consistent training could produce world-class results from Hyderabad.

Today, I have trained hundreds of fighters, many representing India internationally. But beyond the medals, the real reward is seeing students grow into disciplined, confident individuals.

Coaching is not just about creating champions inside the cage. It is about building stronger human beings outside of it.”

– Shaikh Khalid, Indian MMA Coach