Kashmir

NEW DELHI : Owais Yaqoob, a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter from Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, is making a name for himself as one of India's fastest-rising MMA athletes after a series of strong performances on the international stage. The 1998-born fighter recently earned widespread attention after defeating Delyan Georgiev at BRAVE CF 107. Georgiev is known as a training and sparring partner of UFC champion Ilia Topuria, making the victory a major achievement in Yaqoob's career. Owais Yaqoob was Born in Murran village in Pulwama, Yaqoob started his sports journey in 2012 by training in taekwondo and kickboxing. Over the years, he won more than a dozen national medals in different martial arts before switching to MMA. Owais Yaqoob share post on X on his international MMA "Next Big thing for India, now . We just started" https://twitter.com/owaisyaqoob313/status/2084245593380262231?s20 In 2015, Yaqoob founded the Lion's Den Martial Arts Academy in Pulwama to help young athletes pursue combat sports. The academy has trained more than 200 students, encouraging fitness, discipline, and self-confidence among local youth. Yaqoob made his professional MMA debut in 2023 at Matrix Fight Night 11 in New Delhi, where he lost by third-round submission. Instead of giving up, he travelled to Dagestan, Russia, a world-famous training hub for wrestling and MMA, to improve his grappling and wrestling skills. His hard work paid off. After returning, Yaqoob secured impressive victories in India, Kazakhstan, and China. He also became the first fighter from Jammu and Kashmir to compete and win under the BRAVE Combat Federation, one of the leading MMA promotions in the Middle East. Owais Yaqoob is now aiming to earn a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and represent India at the highest level of mixed martial arts.