MMA Fighter From Manipur Becomes First Indian To Win Gold At GAMMA World Championship

Manipur's Laishram Surbala Devi has become the first Indian Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter to win Gold at the Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts (GAMMA) World Championship 2021 held in March 2022 at Amsterdam. Her victory has scripted a new chapter in the history of Indian MMA. Surbala defeated Tomiris Zhussupova of Kazakhstan in the finals via decision and bagged the gold in the GAMMA championship.

GAMMA is the global governing body for MMA, encompassing men, women, and youth participation and competition.

In a conversation with ANI, the Champion said, "I am very happy and excited after winning the championship. This was possible because of my parents. They made so many sacrifices for them even though they did not have much money. Even when I was training in Bangalore, they helped me out with expenses for the rent, gym and supplements as fees from MMA classes I give is not enough. I am also thankful to the Gurus who have inspired and supported me."

However, Surbala's journey to the Gold was not easy. In 2019 during a World Championship match in Bahrain, she sustained a knee injury that kept her out of action for two years.

"I was injured in the first round of the match but competed for nine minutes. It was a very hard phase of my life, I had gone into depression because of my injury as I love the game so much. I had to do rehab for seven months. I had surgery and had to take a two-year-long break. This fight I had was me restarting my career and now I am a world champion," she added.

She was born to L Chandra Singh and L Ongbi Anita Devi as the second child among three siblings. Her father is a retired lab technician and her mother is a part-time weaver.

Surbala was inspired by the legendary boxer of Manipur