“I didn’t grow up dreaming of being an MMA fighter. I was just a kid who loved sports, training at local akhadas near my home to stay fit. Back then, I had no idea what Mixed Martial Arts even was. That changed when I was 14. A school friend introduced me to it, and something just clicked. The mix of techniques, the speed, the skill—it felt different from anything I had seen before.

I started taking MMA seriously during my intermediate years. It wasn’t easy. I had no background in it, no fancy training facilities, just the will to learn. Slowly, I picked up kickboxing, grappling, and other martial arts. It took years of effort, but it paid off. I started competing in National championships and even won two Gold medals—one in Uttar Pradesh in 2021 and another in Bengaluru in 2024 along with several state championships.

But medals don’t tell the whole story. The real challenge was everything outside the cage. My father is a head cook, my mother runs the house, and money was always tight. Still, they never once told me to stop chasing my dream. My brother stood by me through everything. And my coach, M. Manish Kumar, has been more than a mentor—he’s like an elder brother to all of us fighters.

The road hasn’t been smooth. I fractured my right hand in a match, which meant months of recovery. I had to drop out of college to give my full focus to MMA. Last year, I qualified for the World Championship after competing at the FMMAI Nationals in Bengaluru. That was a dream come true. But I couldn’t go. Sponsorship issues. The reality is, travel, training, and competing at the highest level cost a lot, and without proper backing, many fighters like me are left behind.

MMA in Telangana is still growing, but it needs more recognition. In other states, athletes get government support, which makes a huge difference. If we had that kind of support here, more fighters could rise through the ranks without worrying about financial hurdles.

To me, MMA is about discipline, mental toughness, and pushing past limits. This is just the beginning. I will keep training, keep fighting, and keep proving that a small-town boy with big dreams can make it.”

– L. Praveen Nayak