Fighting Alliance 4: MMA’s premier event delivers what it promised

Groans, moans and screams aplenty on the main card

LAHORE: The who’s who of Pakistan’s Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) community were in attendance on Saturday at the Wapda Sports Complex in Lahore where the hotly-anticipated Fighting Alliance 4 took place.

The main event of the night was brief but fully lived up to its top billing as Karachi’s Ovais Shah finished off Gujranwala’s Shams Rehman in the first round of their bout.

Shah, a well-known name in Karachi’s MMA circuit, started the fight in a southpaw stance to throw off his opponent, who took the bait and rushed forward from the get-go.

Rehman threw a flurry of punches and kicks but rarely connected with anything as Shah danced around him to evade his attack. Half a minute into the round and with his stand-up game failing him, he attempted takedown, but the 27-year-old Karachi-based fighter read his opponent’s intentions and landed an uppercut.



Stunned, Rehman retreated, allowing Shah to exhibit aggression as he landed a couple of clean shots that had the crowd on the edge of their seats.

Having realised that he was unable to trade punches with his opponent, the Gujranwala-based warrior went for another takedown which didn’t pay off. He did, however, manage to breach Shah’s defence and bring him down on his third attempt.

Nevertheless, the Karachiite, in a textbook manoeuvre, rolled over Rehman, turning defence into attack in the blink of an eye. As the chants of “Ovais Shah, Ovais Shah!” nearly lifted the roof of the arena, their beloved fighter used his left leg to trap his rival’s right hand and reduced resistance by half.

Rehman tried with all his might to escape the full mount, but Shah did not relent. Moments later, he tapped out to the 27-year-old’s arm bar.



Shahid Siddique, another fighter from Karachi, also triumphed, earning a unanimous decision win over his opponent Muhammad.

Meanwhile, in the night’s co-main event, Pakistan’s Alamgeer Prince Khan lost via a TKO (Technical Knockout) to Afghanistan’s Imandost Khan, while the main card’s only heavyweight bout between Xasha Khan and Taimoor resulted in a win for the latter.

Even though there were no winners in the bout between Awais Raja and Ajmal Fraji, Irfan Ahmed, Najam and Shah Nawaz all secured TKO wins over their respective opponents.

In addition to the local talent, Fighting Alliance 4 — a brainchild of Impact Sports Productions — featured several fighters from Afghanistan as well, alongside Chechnya’s Mohammad Fattah.