#TFGinterview: A Lioness among the Pride - In Conversation with Indian MMA fighter Akshata Khadtare
- By Renjith Ravindran
- July 15, 2017
AKSHATA KHADTARE might be a new name to Indian Mixed Martial Arts fans. But in just a short span of 15 months, she has made a major impact. Akshata first announced her entry by competing at the Yoddha Fighting Championship which was held at Kohima.
After picking up a win at the event, Akshata went on to win big at the All India Mixed Martial Arts Federation (AIMMAF) National Ameature championship as well. And all of a sudden, the combat sports training that she took up to learn self-defense and lose weight was looking like her true calling.
One of the reasons behind the success of Akshata has been her no nonsense training at Evolution MMA.
Akshata: Evolution is a serious no nonsense training center. The atmosphere is friendly and very conducive to learning but at the same time, it's tough surviving the training sessions. We, members of Team Relentless, are a small close knit family and spend most of our time training. I have been blessed to work with some of the top Indian fighters like Chaitanya Gavali, Yadwinder Singh, Mohammed Farhad, Abdul Muneer, Susovan Ghosh and Sanjivan Padwal. I also train on a regular basis with top amateurs like Anil Mehta, Sunny Khatri, Rudransh Azaad, Navdeep Agarwal, Manthan Rane, Aditya Sanil and many others at Evolution.
Clearly a Lioness among the Pride, Akshata has been making use of the experienced name around her to prepare for her upcoming fight at Ultimate Beatdown. She will fight Singapore's Tan Shi Yin in a strawweight fight at the event and will be putting her undefeated run of 4-0-0 on the line.
Akshata: For this camp, I have been training with teammates like Susovan Ghosh, Sunny Khatri, Navdeep Agarwal on my grappling and Anil Mehta and Manthan Rane on my striking and clinch fighting. My coach, Jitendra Khare, has seen her fights before we signed up to fight and he is confident that it will be a good match up. We don't believe in training for anyone fighter and train to be the best we can be on every aspect of the game. I believe my opponent is one of the top female fighters in the region and I'm excited to test my skills against her.
With her MMA career going shining bright, Akshata has taken a two-year break from her work to concentrate on the fight career. She is yet to decide to whether or not she will take up MMA full time, but she is certain about what she wants to achieve in the longer run.
Akshata: My long term goal is to be a world champion but I know that I have just started my journey and I have miles to go. Currently, I want to keep growing as a fighter and want to keep challenging myself and my skill levels. I also want to continue my journey as a martial artist and keep enjoying my time me on the mat.
The journey, however, had its hurdles. A certain sense of resistance from her family was the first one.
Akshata: The biggest challenge is to explain to my parents why I do what I do. Also, the cauliflower ears are not helping my cause as it's increasing my mom's worries of finding me a suitor when the time comes. I feel currently women fighters aren't taken very seriously and hence challenges in getting sponsors for my fights. I hope my performances can help people look past my gender and maybe even gain some sponsors so that I can fight internationally more often and also afford training camps abroad for my fights.
As she sets out to face her next opponent at Ultimate Beatdown, Akshata reiterates that Women should train in Combat sports and shed the illusion that nothing can go wrong.
Akshata: Every woman should train in some form of combat sports that has some element of sparring. My coach always talks about the fact that one must be always prepared for the absolute worse case scenario not just physically but also mentally. Most women live under the illusion that nothing can go wrong with them till it actually does and then it's the shock more than the incident that damages their psyche. I chose not to act like a victim and rely on others for help if the need arises.
Akshata closed the interview with a request for the fans out there.
Akshata: I would request my fans to support not just me but also my teammates and wish us good luck as we represent India at the prestigious Ultimate Beatdown on July 15. We have put in a lot of hardworking and time preparing for these fights and we promise that we will put up a show and make the country proud of us.
