Laishram Surbala Devi became the first Indian to win gold at the Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts (GAMMA) World Championships 2021 in Amsterdam.
Born in Manipur, India, Devi made history last month after defeating Tomiris Zhussupova of Kazakhstan via decision at the GAMMA WC finals. GAMMA WC is a global MMA platform showcasing the talents of men, women, and youth MMA fighters.
The phenomenal win comes after a two-year hiatus due to a knee injury she suffered in 2019 at a world championship match in Bahrain.
“I was injured in the first round of the match but competed for nine minutes,” Devi said. “It was a very hard phase of my life, I had gone into depression because of my injury as I love the game so much. I had to do rehab for seven months. I had surgery and had to take a two-year-long break. This fight I had was me restarting my career and now I am a world champion.” (h/t NDTV)
But GAMMA WC is not the young fighter’s first experience at becoming a champion. She also struck gold in the WKF K1 Kickboxing Woman Amateur World Championship.
Devi began her fighting career in 2010 as a kickboxer. Legendary Manipurian Boxer Ngangom Dingko Singh was the major inspiration for her interest in the combat sport.
It was not until 2018 that Devi decided to dabble in mixed martial arts, and now the 21-year-old is a world champion.
With such a promising career, Devi has huge aspirations to turn professional and eventually fight in the world-famous UFC. As a newly crowned champion, Devi wants to help other fighters by providing the resources needed such as money and supplements to enter the sport.
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