Khalid bin Hamad al Khalifa, Abbas Khan

Faizan Fayaz, Yunas Khan Raja, Tayyab Usmani.jpg

Several Pakistani mixed martial artists are making waves recently. Among them are Abbas Khan and Tayyab Usmani.

On January 12, 2019, Usmani made his professional MMA debut successfully at “Aspera FC Asia 2,” which took place took place at the Sagul Malingap Foodpark in Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. He submitted Aldredo Melendres of the Philippines via armbar after 1 minute and 20 seconds in the first round.

Usmani and Melendes competed in the lightweight division. They both made their debuts in Aspera Fighting Championship Asia, a branch of Aspera FC Brazil.

Including Usmani, two athletes represented Pakistan at “Aspera FC Asia 2.” The other one was Faizan “The Hunter” Fayaz, who captured the Aspera FC Asia Lightweight Championship title via a unanimous decision victory over his Filipino opponent Lyndon Castillo.

While Usmani now holds a professional MMA record of 1 win and 0 loss, Khan has 8 wins, 4 losses and 1 No Contest as an amateur MMA fighter. In 2018, Khan won 6 out of 7 amateur bouts.

Khan defeated his three opponents at the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation 2018 Africa Open Championships from April 24-26, 2018 at the Brakpan Indoor Sport Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. His opponents were Esoe “Soldier of Jesus” Franklin of Cameroon, Sheldon James “Princess” Victor of South Africa and Cody Barnwell of Australia.

On November 27, 2018, Khan made his successful debut in Bahrain-based MMA promotion Brave Combat Federation. He knocked out his fellow Pakistani fighter Sikandar Badar in the first round at “Brave 17” at the Nishtar Park Sports Complex in Lahore, Pakistan.

“Brave 17” marked Brave CF’s debut in Pakistan. It was also the first ever global MMA event to take place in the country.

After the successful Brave CF debut, Khan competed in the 2018 IMMAF-World Mixed Martial Arts Association Unified World Championships at the Khalifa Sports City Arena in Manama, Bahrain from November 12-14, 2018. After defeating Mehraj Zarbaliyev of Azerbaijan and Nate Enright of Ireland, Khan lost to Rusi Minev of Bulgaria.

Currently, Khan is based in Bahrain. Watch his Brave CF bout against Badar here: