The Indian Women that made history at IMMAF World Championships: Part 2 – Naipunya Sunil

THE RECENTLY CONCLUDED IMMAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS in Bahrain was a historic one for Indian MMA.

It was the first time that India sent female MMA fighters to compete at the event. Four female athletes represented the nation in Bahrain and in this series; we will try to shed some light into these fighters that broke the glass ceiling.

The First Indian WMMA Fighter to fight at IMMAF World Championships – Naipunya Sunil

The coastal city of Calicut is known for many things. From its mouthwatering Biryani to the scenic beaches that comes alive at nights, Calicut has a rich culture to showcase to the world.

Surprisingly or not, it is also home to some of the most notable combat sports athletes that Kerala has seen in recent years.  

The newest addition to the list is Naipunya Sunil. At the recently concluded IMMAF World Championship in Bahrain, the 18-year-old etched her name into the history books by becoming India’s first female representative to fight at the event.

Her fight with Hannah Dawson ended in a second-round TKO defeat but the glass ceiling was already shattered.

It took six years for Naipunya to reach that historical point.

Her first encounter with Combat Sports came at the age of 12 when she saw some people practice boxing inside a ring that was set up on the roadsides. A peaked curiosity soon landed her in the training center of Guru Puathalath Raghavan where she kick-started her combat sports journey through boxing.

The entry of Mixed Martial Arts into her life came after a few years and the credit for this disruption goes to Super Fight League. She stumbled across an SFL show on Television one day and just like the case with boxing, MMA also managed to grab her attention.

SFL’s role in Naipunya’s MMA career would not end there. With her newfound curiosity, she joined Swastik Fight Club where former SFL fighter Ranjith was building Kerala’s next crop of MMA fighters.   

Along with balancing her studies, Naipunya became an active name in the amateur MMA scene under Ranjith. The first opportunity for her to break into the international circuit came this year when she got a chance to participate in the IMMAF Asian Open Championship in Singapore. The lack of sponsors, however, played spoilsport and made her wait till the IMMAF World Championships in Bahrain.

Naipunya Sunil: The lack of knowledge about MMA in the state is a problem while searching for sponsors. This time around, my parents and my club managed to fund my expenses for the IMMAF World Championships. We also got some help from COSMO Sports in Calicut.

Even though she suffered a defeat at the championships, it was a sweet one according to her.

Naipunya Sunil: It was a bittersweet defeat for me. I was fighting well for two rounds and faced some issues with my hand because of which I had to give up. However, I came to know that I can hang in with foreign fighters. I have understood my shortcomings and if I train well, I’m sure that we could get a win next time.

It might’ve been a defeat inside the cage, but outside it, she is inspiring the people around her, which is a huge victory indeed.

Naipunya Sunil: There was this concept that ‘girls should not do this and girls should not do that’. But my parents have been supportive of me throughout. And ever since I picked up martial arts, I’ve grown bolder and gained more courage. And after the IMMAF Championships, a lot of girls in our college were interested in taking up martial arts. So along with our teachers, we are planning to set up martial arts classes in our college. We have already conducted many self-defense classes.

With a dream of making it to the UFC one day, Naipunya has her eyes set on the next IMMAF World Championship. While she battles towards her goals, she is becoming a flag bearer of the sport in the region and most importantly, she is urging girls to dream beyond the four walls of their houses.

You can read the first part here: The Indian Women that made history at IMMAF World Championships: Part 1 – Divya Nagaraj

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