Guwahati, Feb. 6: Close on the heels of L. Sarita Devi of Manipur hitting the billboard with her professional boxing debut, Assam's Bhabajeet Choudhury, a multi-discipline combat sports expert, has added another chapter to the Northeast's professional sports history by becoming the first ever professional mixed martial arts (MMA) athlete to make it to its apex platform in the country.
Bhabajeet is the captain of the Gujarat Warriors franchise in the Super Fight League (SFL), co-owned by former world champion and British boxer Amir Khan and British-Indian business magnate Bill Dosanjh.
It took Bhabajeet, 29, a former wushu and kickboxing champion, more than 15 years to traverse the distance from the streets of Pathsala, a small township in lower Assam's Barpeta district, to the SFL ring where he is known as Bhabajeet the Stretcher.
Promoted by Sony ESPN, SFL is a league involving eight franchises from across India with every franchise hiring some of the top MMA fighters in the world. MMA is a full-contact combat sport, which involves striking as well as grappling.
Taking to the ring as a 14-year-old, Bhabajeet started off with kung-fu and kickboxing at his hometown before moving to Guwahati for advanced coaching and competitions. Later on, he learnt other contact sports like karate, taekwondo, wushu, boxing and wrestling to hone his skills as an expert in almost all the disciplines.
Having won the national title thrice in wushu, Bhabajeet also bagged an Asian Championship bronze in Vietnam in 2012 and a silver in international professional kickboxing in India.
At the same time, he also participated in advanced coaching camps in MMA in Mumbai in 2011-12 to master the art. Shooting to fame with his brilliant show in his first SFL fight in 2012, the Assam fighter was awarded Asia's Best Fight Finish Award in 2013. He also holds the fourth SFL world rank (welterweight category).
Having achieved the feats, Bhabajeet turned to entrepreneurship by setting up two gyms here to promote MMA.
"I run two gyms in Guwahati where a good number of trainees are enrolled. My objective of running the gyms is not business but to promote the relatively new sport which is yet to gain popularity among our youths," Bhabajeet told The Telegraph on the phone from New Delhi.
Asked what made him take up a sport which is not recognised by the Olympic charter, the MMA expert said: "Sports is no more an amateur leisurely activity. It is now a profession. And, when we the northeasterners are gifted in combat sports, we should make the most of it professionally."
"Besides, how many sportspersons from Assam are winning Olympic medals? When we don't have the potential in us, why waste our time and energy in futile exercises? Youths from the Northeast are immensely talented in martial arts and MMA is one platform where they can reap the reward of their efforts," he added. On his future venture to promote MMA in Assam and the Northeast, Bhabajeet said he was planning to hold an international event here on March 5.
