Indian wrestlers can earn big money in MMA: UFC players

Even as Indian wrestlers reel under the shock of the sport having been dropped from the 2020 Olympics herersquos some good news People behind the Ultimate Fighting Championship mdash touted to be the worldrsquos premier mixed martial arts MMA organisation mdash believe Indian wrestlers will have a lucrative alternate career option very soon MMA is a contest between two athletes using a combination of combat disciplines including boxing GrecoRoman wrestling freestyle wrestling judo taekwondo kickboxing karate jiujitsu and Thai boxing And UFC believes Indiarsquos traditional wrestling prowess could make its fighters a force to reckon with London silver medallist Sushil Kumar andu00a0bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt PicsGetty Images ldquoItrsquos great to have talent and national heroes and thatrsquos what we looked at while coming to India India is a very promising and emerging market for UFC and we are looking at it very seriously We realise that India is a predominantly cricket nation but even football is currently growing there and MMA will build toou00a0 Wrestling is big in India It has got a very strong culture and traditionrdquo said Gary Cook managing director and executive vicepresident Europe Middle East and Africa during the open workout session ahead of Saturdayrsquos UFC event at the Ericsson Globe Arena here Wrestling roots Ilir Latifi who will make his UFC debut on Saturday started off as a wrestler Latifi has been called on to replace light heavyweight fighter and local boy Alexander lsquoThe Maulerrsquo Gustafsson after the latter suffered a cut above his left eye and was ruled out of Saturdayrsquos feature fight against Gegard Mousasi ldquoI believe if you have a good wrestling base it facilitates the transition to being a MMA fighter I started GrecoRoman wrestling when I was six years old The training a wrestler undergoes the physical stress the strain is all equal if not more when compared to MMA I know India has a lot of wresters including some Olympic medal winners and MMA and the UFC is a great career option for themrdquo Latifi said on the sidelines of the open workout session Iranian lightweight fighter Reza lsquoMad Dogrsquo Madadi felt Indian wrestlers are very passionate about their sport and that is what could bring them success ldquoIndian wrestlers have a huge opportunity with the UFC coming to India UFC fighters come from different backgrounds but those coming in from the wrestling world enjoy better success Indian wrestlers have a very good heart They are very hardworking and passionate guys I am sure they will succeed in UFCrdquo said Reza Finally Mousasi felt that even boxing is a good startup to MMA ldquoI began as a boxer and then took to MMA India does have a good boxing structure too so I think they will do well hererdquo he said Rake in the moolah While wrestlers in India earn hardly anything from their craft UFC fighters rake in some big moolah It is learnt that the normal contracts doled out to startup UFC fighters range from anything between 8000 USD to 10000 USD per fight And this is just the showup amount to turn up for the encounter The winner earns double as he gets an additional amount which is equal to the showup amount Some of the top UFC fighters reportedly earn anywhere between USD 100000 to USD 1 million per fightu00a0