Indian MMA only getting started, wrestling culture to transition quickly into the UFC: Forrest Griffin

Indian MMA only getting started, wrestling culture to transition quickly into the UFC: Forrest Griffin

Forrest Griffin made his professional debut in 2001, back when the sport of mixed martial arts was in its infancy.

He’d go on to compete in the UFC and become the light heavyweight champion in 2008. Eventually, he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2013.

He’s seen the sport and the promotion grow to become the behemoth it is today. Forrest, now playing a senior role in the UFC himself, is the vice-president of athlete development, responsible for honing talent, including from regions where the sport is still developing.

Speaking to Sportstar, Forrest spoke about the performance of Indian fighters in the UFC, the state of talent in the country and what he expects from Indian fighters.

And while Anshul Jubli might be facing a barrage of trolls following his two knockout losses in the UFC, Forrest said he felt the fighter, who became the first Indian to earn a UFC contract, still had time to rise. 

Anshul had an excellent performance in RTU (Road to UFC) and really became a flagbearer for Indian MMA. He’s had a couple of tough bouts but he’s still young and got the skills. I think he’s got time to rise. Puja on the other hand won her UFC debut and nearly got a finish in her second fight. I think she’s shown how far Indian MMA has come. She showed a lot of improvement in her second fight and I think she can bounce back from her loss next time out.

Indian MMA talent is only getting started. Indian fighters will find more success not just in the UFC Octagon but also in other fight promotions. Then, more kids will become interested in MMA, there will be more gyms, and more opportunities for people to train in MMA. India has a great wrestling culture, and I think that will transition to MMA quickly. I think shows like Road to UFC will play a part in this.

All of the above. In the short term, the best Indian fighters go abroad to train. As the sport grows in India, fighters will be able to train at super camps in India. I don’t know how much exposure the sport of MMA gets in India, but it’s not enough. The exposure will grow, which will cause the training to improve, which will cause the fighters to get better and will, in turn, cause the exposure to grow. So, it will be a cycle of growth and improvement.

Punyajit Likharu splits his training between Bali and the UFC Academy at the UFC PI in Shanghai, based on his visa needs. He will continue to grow this year and be perfect for RTU next year. Sumit Kumar is an amazing story: he fought in RTU while not training specifically in MMA. In the past year, he has trained in Thailand, and now he is a resident athlete at the UFC PI Mexico City. Hopefully, he will be ready for RTU in the next two years. Fortunately, he is young and healthy.

We are looking for good wrestlers with the ability to strike to get to takedowns, and then deliver effective strikes on the ground.

There can be many. But the most important thing is that the sport is popular in the country. Once MMA becomes popular in a country, the rest will fall in place. It also helps if the country has a history of martial arts.

I’d like to give you a simple answer, but I don’t think it’s easier or harder to make it now than it was in my day; I think the challenges are just different. One good thing today might be that there’s more emphasis on being exciting and having a fighting style that fans enjoy, whereas in my day, the emphasis was more on just winning.

There’s a variety of reasons why India can produce the next generation of great MMA fighters such as its overall population size, its wrestling culture, and the fact that people in India are becoming more prosperous and have more time to devote to sport.

I think the country they most resemble in their growth will be China – another country with a large population whose average personal wealth grew tremendously, and they’re also a country that has a history and a culture of martial arts. China now has a dominant champion in Zhang Weili and many other contenders on the rise.

I’m looking forward to seeing Mridul (Saikia) participate in this season of RTU. So far he’s undefeated and he’s finished his fights with striking and submissions. He’s going to have a great opportunity to test himself against regional talent in Asia. Hopefully, he showcases his skills to make it to the finals and earn that UFC contract.