BRAVE Combat Federation returns to Pakistan | President MMA Pak Omar Ahmed's Analysis
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BRAVE Combat Federation returns to Pakistan | President MMA Pak Omar Ahmed's Analysis
BRAVE Combat Federation returns to Pakistan | President MMA Pak Omar Ahmed's Analysis
Transcript
00:00Pakistan Mixed Martial Arts Federation will return to Pakistan after 6 years of Brave Combat Federation.
00:08Pakistan Mixed Martial Arts Championship will start from 18th August in Lahore.
00:14Along with Harif Bharat, 180 athletes from all over the world will participate.
00:19You will be able to see the action live on Pakistan's first sports HD channel, A-Sports.
00:25And live streaming will be on ARY Zap.
00:28Yes, you saw the promo. It will be a very exciting event.
00:31I am looking forward to it.
00:34At the moment, President of Pakistan MMA Federation, Mr. Umar Ahmed is with us.
00:38Mr. Umar, tell us, this MMA event is taking place in Pakistan after 6 years.
00:43And what happened 6 years ago was also great.
00:47But this is bigger than ever.
00:49And this is the first time Asian Championship is taking place in Pakistan.
00:53So there are a lot of expectations. What would you like to say?
00:56Yes, Brave CF is one of the biggest promotions in the world.
01:00And it is said to be the most global promotion in the world.
01:02Because it holds its annual event in 37 different countries.
01:05It is coming back to Pakistan after 2018.
01:08And this time, not only Brave CF is coming.
01:11Pakistan MMA Federation has successfully secured Asian Championship.
01:16In which teams from 12 countries are coming.
01:18And around 160 athletes are coming to participate.
01:21We have approved 280 foreign visa applications.
01:26And we have a lot of support from the government.
01:29We are very thankful to the government.
01:31This by far is the biggest sporting event Pakistan has ever done.
01:35Before this, Pakistan has hosted the South Asian Games.
01:38Before that, Pakistan hosted the 1996 World Cup.
01:41In any event, more than 7-8 teams have not exceeded.
01:46This is the first event in which athletes from 12 countries are coming to compete.
01:50So this is a matter of pride for Pakistan.
01:52Yes, obviously this is a big event and everyone is very excited about it.
01:56You are working alone for the promotion of mixed martial arts.
01:59Shouldn't the government and the sports board play their role?
02:03It's a new sport.
02:06Its popularity among youth is very high.
02:10We realized through data analytics.
02:13If you look at TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
02:1716-21 year olds like MMA and combat sports videos the most.
02:25They like, engage and share.
02:27We are number 2 on Facebook.
02:30Cricket is number 1.
02:32But all other social media platforms between 16-21 years old.
02:36This is the most popular sport.
02:38Khabib, McGregor, Adesanya.
02:40Our youth look up and follow them.
02:44Definitely, the government should support us.
02:49But I have a different opinion.
02:52Every sport has an economy.
02:54Cricket has a lot of viewership.
02:57It has its own economy.
02:59It has PSL and ICC based events.
03:02As Pakistan MMA Federation, we tried to create an economy.
03:06Our professional fighters who are fighting in the ring.
03:09They get paid in dollars.
03:11They get 3-4 fights a year.
03:13They make a reasonable amount of money.
03:15Similarly, when they reach the world championship level.
03:18That money is going to increase.
03:20They can make up to 1-1.5 million.
03:22As you said, there are a lot of fighters.
03:25India is a part of it.
03:29How is the preparation of Pakistani fighters?
03:32We are very excited to compete with India.
03:37Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan.
03:41They are one of the most favorite teams.
03:43MMA is embedded in their culture.
03:45Bahrain is a very strong team.
03:47Asia is the powerhouse of MMA.
03:50Top 10 teams in the world championship.
03:536-10 teams are from Asia.
03:55Pakistan is a very experienced team.
03:59They have been competing in the IMMF for 3-4 years.
04:04I am sure that we will secure 8-10 medals for Pakistan.
04:10Umar Ahmed, President of Pakistan MMA Federation was with us.
04:14Wishing you very best of luck.
04:16Let's hope this event is successful.
04:18MMA will play an important role in promoting this event.