MMA fighter Shahzaib Rind decries govt’s lack of support after Dubai triumph over India

Pakistani mixed martial arts fighter Shahzaib Rind on Tuesday lamented that it was the government’s “bad luck” that it did not support its country’s heroes after his 2-1 victory over India at Dubai’s Karate Combat 45 event over the weekend.

Karate Combat, which describes itself as the world’s “premier full-contact karate league”, held a “night of martial arts excellence” with its debut event in Dubai on April 20.

The match between India and Pakistan in the combat sport was played over three ties with Rizwan Ali knocking out Pawan Gupta in the first round.

The Indian side had equalised the contest after Himanshu Kaushik defeated Faizan Khan by decision.

Rind and India’s Rana Singh took on each other in the final battle of the contest, leading to a quick victory for the former. Rind, who was “unstoppable” in the pit, had raised both nation’s flags after his victory helped Pakistan take an unassailable lead in the contest.

He had later explained that the purpose of carrying both flags was to show the fight was for peace. “We are not enemies, we are together. Together we can do anything,” he had said, adding that the politics between the countries was separating the people.

Upon his arrival in Quetta today, he bemoaned that it was the government’s “bad luck” that it did not support its heroes.

“If our heroes are supported accordingly, they can become role models for our youth,” he said, adding that the youth would get motivated when they saw their role models getting appreciated and supported.

“They will also be motivated and join sports,” he said.

Rind said his next target was to become the world champion for which he had already started training for the world title.

“It is happening soon in Dubai and I will go there and bring Pakistan the world title,” Rind said.

In an interview with DawnNewsSports yesterday, Rind said that Pakistan’s win over India was a victory for the entire nation.

He had said that he trained throughout Ramazan for the “huge fight” which was very difficult.

Rind said that the contest against India was always big, adding that numerous stars at the venue piled more pressure on him.

He had said that fighters competed for the sake of the entire country however there was not much support for them. “There is no sponsorship, we do everything by ourselves,” he had rued.