Quote:
Originally Posted by Voiceless
Has India any notable fighters in other martial arts on international level (like Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Olympic Wrestling, Judo, Kyokushin Karate, etc.) that could/would switch to MMA¿
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There are a few like Jaideep Singh (I think he fights in K1), Sushil Kumar (who won bronze in the 66kg weight class for wrestling at the Olympics) to name a few that come to mind, that may be able to transition.
It's weird though, because most combat sports in the country were really ignored compared to Cricket/Field Hockey. With the exception of perhaps wrestling and Kalaripayattu (a martial art practised mostly in the South), there really wasn't a lot of talk of martial arts, which is odd considering a lot of martial arts originated from the country (and it has a strong history of wrestling as well).
I believe that a lot of the Pelwans (wrestlers) have the easiest transition, but they will need plenty of striking training before they can come up in the world of MMA.
That being said, there is a LOT of guys in Canada/U.S who have Indian backgrounds, that are coming up the ranks these days.