THE SOUL OF WARRIORS 3 event is being pushed back to August due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Originally scheduled to take place late July in Siliguri, the event has now been been slated for 28th August. The venue, too, has been moved to Kolkata, the home city of the promotion, where the first two SOW events took place.
Earlier, the SOW officials were in touch with the West Bengal government to figure out a safe way to conduct the event due to the pandemic. A representative from the promotion confirmed to TFG that special safety precautions will be taken for the athletes competing in SOW 3.
The fight card will be headlined by a Welterweight bout between Abhijeet Petkar (4-5) and Amit Kumar (2-3). It's a comeback fight for Abhijeet who last competed as a professional in 2017 when he submitted Selender Kumar in Super Fight League. Amit is also coming off a win, albeit in an exhibition bout. He knocked out Najibullah Muhammad at PCFL 2 in February 2020.
The co-main event is set to feature a featherweight contest between Siddharth Chandansive (6-1) and Vikas Dahiya (3-4-1). Siddharth, who ran up an impressive 4 fight win streak when he started his pro MMA career in SFL, made his comeback to competition last year when he stopped Vinit Desai at The Hero Pro Fight Night 3. Vikas, meanwhile, is trying to get back to winning ways following four bouts without a win, and a two fight skid.
The card will feature 13 fights in total, all broadcast live on the Soul of Warriors Facebook and YouTube pages.
SOW have recently signed a number of Mixed Martial Artists on multi-fight deals, including Will Chope who has competed at the UFC. The promotion is expected to expand its roster further as it builds up to its first event since January.
The promotion has also launched 'Road to Warriors', an all-India multi-disciplinary talent hunt in MMA, submission grappling and kickboxing, aimed at finding and grooming the next generation of professional fighters in India. This series, which will focus on young amateur athletes, will go around the country's major cities like Kolkata, Mumbai and Guwahati, holding competitive events with exceptional performers being offered a chance to compete professionally on SOW's flagship cards.