Nagpur's runaway MMA fighter Vyas ready to take MFN 8 by storm

Kushal Vyas, who hails from Koradi village in Nagpur, is set to face Rahul Thapa in the 8th edition of Matrix Fight Night (MFN) at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi on Friday. Ahead of the major bout against a strong opponent, Kushal opened up on his journey into the competitive world of MMA and how he had to run away from home at the age of 12 to pursue his passion for combat sports. While the opportunities to pursue sports in his village were far and few, Kushal, who was studying at the Seventh-Day Adventist Higher Secondary School, in Nagpur, was introduced to boxing at another school in his village.

“In my village, there was no interest in sports. The belief was that one should study, get a job and earn a living. At that time, I found out about Bhonsala Military School, where sports enthusiasts were allowed to play sports free of cost,” Kushal recalled.

“I was really attracted to the boxing ring. I went in just for the boxing trials and I did not even realize when it grew into a passion,” he said. Hailing from a religious Brahmin family, Kushal had a hard time convincing parents to allow him to pursue his passion for combat sports.

Seeing his opportunity elsewhere, he ran away from home at the age of 12 to Mumbai in 2007. In the city of dreams, Kushal started working in hotels to earn a living. “I would get Rs500-600 per month as salary,” Kushal said.

Kushal started training and competing at the Mumbai District Boxing Association in Shivaji Park and grew into a national-level boxer. After 7 years of being away from his family and hometown, Kushal visited Nagpur and decided to call his parents. "They had the same landline number they had before.