Bali mma

Mixed Martial Arts: In a country where Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting is still in its nascent stage, Nagpur’s 21-year-old Raiwat Sagdeo has been quietly forging his path in the sport. Staunch determination helped him start his journey in the contact sport, even when his parents weren’t convinced.

“I put in the work silently, and over time, my parents began to see how serious I was. Eventually, they supported me wholeheartedly,” says Sagdeo about the start of his career.

His family didn’t have any connection to the sport. While his father worked in the private sector, his mother was a homemaker. Having spent his childhood in Pinjore, located on the Haryana-Himachal border, he got introduced to martial arts in school through taekwondo and karate classes, which were in extracurricular activities.