Raring to go professional, says rising MMA star Surbala Laishram

The Sangai Express *

MMA star Surbala Laishram :: Pix - TSE

Surbala Laishram who ended India's gold medal drought at the Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts (GAMMA) World Championship recently, expressed her keen desire to pursue MMA further and enter professional circuit in the near future.

Surbala, daughter of L Chandra Singh and L Anita Devi of Khangabok Sorok Wangma in Thoubal district defeated Tomiris Zhussupova of Kazakhstan in the 52 kg Striking MMA final via unanimous decision to win India's first and lone gold medal in the championship held at Amsterdam from March 23 to 27. The feat earned her much praise from the netizens and MMA lovers from across the Nation and State.

India fielded a strong contingent of 33 fighters at the event and finished with a haul of 11 medals including 4 silver and 6 bronze medals at the championship. Dinesh Naorem, who hails from Kakching was among the bronze medallists as he had to withdraw from the semi-final round due to an injury.

In an exclusive interview with The Sangai Express, Surbala shared her long journey from being a kickboxing champion to an amateur MMA fighter and her recent experience at Amsterdam. With family support and encouragement, she started her kickboxing stint in 2010 under local coach Jackychand and it was a whole new experience when she endorsed MMA in 2018 after 8 years of her kickboxing career during which she bagged as many as 11 National championship titles, Surbala said.

About her entry to the MMA sports, she credited Frank, head coach of Kanglei Mixed Martial Arts Club in 2018 for introducing her to inter-stylistic combat sports and for providing her training for nearly 6 months at Ningthem Pukhri Mapal. The same year she emerged champion in a locally organised MMA event- Manipur Fight League and finished runner up in the Shillong Case Fighting Championship, she said.

With the help of Roshan Mainam, who is an established professional MMA fighter and her inspiration, she shifted her base at KOI Combat Academy, Bangalore and since then she had received BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) training, which is one of the key styles in MMA under coach Vishal Seigell, she said.

The training at Bangalore improved her so much and eventually bagged two gold medals (Absolute weight and straw weight) at the Asian Open GI and NO GI Championship held in 2019 in Delhi and one gold medal (strawweight) and the best fighter title at the 5th Bangalore Open MMA Championship 2019, the 24 year old Surbala said.

She also emerged champion in the XI International Women Fight Night (strawweight) in 2019 before she got her knee injured at World Amateur Mixed Martial Arts Championship held in Bahrain in 2019, she added.

The GAMMA event held this March was her first MMA event after the two-year forced break, Surbala said while adding that it was a mixed experience at Amsterdam. She was very excited to be a part of the event at one hand but on the other hand, she had to compete in higher weight division (52 kg) as none of athletes of her working weight class (47.6) was available, possibly due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war or other reasons, she said.

Due to weight disadvantage, she faced difficulties when she took on Rustambek Kyzy Ainazik of Kyrgyzstan in the semi-final. Despite the weight challenge, she relied much on takedown technique to win by split decision and enter into the final, she said.

And unfortunately she got her cheek bone fractured and jaw dislocated in the very first round of the final match against Tomiris but held on to complete three rounds and emerged victorious via unanimous decision, she contended.

On how she managed to keep up her training at Bangalore, Surbala who is a graduate in BSc Biochemistry from YK College (Wangjing) said that she took up a personal trainer job to lessen the burden on family.

She also spoke highly of Vishal Seigell, who runs the KOI Combat Academy for all the guidance and help and was the head coach of the India's contingent at the GAMMA event. Surbala also extended heartfelt gratitude to Vishal's mother who provided moral support and sponsored her trip to Amsterdam.

On being asked about the scope of MMA in Manipur and Country, Surbala said that the MMA sport, though not yet having gone mainstream, is gradually gaining popularity and will become a big event in years to come.

When it comes to combat sports, Manipuris always excel and many have started opting MMA, she said while exuding confidence that MMA will surely become an avenue for combat sports enthusiasts and followers. "I am on a break due to recent injury and will join training within the next two months," said gritty Surbala who is yet to get her due recognition despite helping the India's flag flying high at the global event.

Surbala who is the second child of three siblings continued that she is looking forward to entering into the professional arena and start supporting her family. While expressing gratitude to all who have been extending unwavering support and encouragement, she also went on to express her desire to lead growing fighters into the sport and help make a career out of it.