Raza, coach Karim bring down Sohail

Highly-anticipated sequel outshines even the main event

KARACHI: "Hands up, press forward, watch out for the jab" the ever-animated coach Ehtisham Karim Shaheen would scream incessantly from his place at ringside as his protégé Mehmosh "The Renegade" Raza tried his best to oblige, while also evading the counters of his opponent Haroon Sohail during their three-round battle at Fighting Alliance 5, which took place in Lahore on Saturday.

It was almost video-game like as every instruction issued from the coach's mouth would bring a real time change in Raza's strategy.

In the end, Raza would earn a split decision win; winning over his demanding coach would be an altogether different story though.

Although not the main event, the Raza-Sohail 2, a sequel to their bout at Fighting Alliance 3, was viewed by many as the night's best.

The two opponents spent the opening round of the highly technical bout sizing up each other before the fight picked up the pace over the next two rounds.

Lahore-based Synergy's Sohail relied on his jab and defence, picking his shots and doing his best to stay out of Raza's striking zone. But Raza, fighting out of Islamabad's Fight Fortress, was clearly the aggressor and a worthy winner of the 15-minute battle.

With that win, Raza would also kill any rivalry between the two as he now has two comfortable victories over Sohail — he had won via submission in their first fight last year.

In the main event, meanwhile, English veteran Shah "No Pain" Hussain defeated Afghanistan's Ajmal Faraji via a TKO.

Faraji's fortunes were in direct contrast to his compatriot Mohammadullah Omar Imandost's, who secured a TKO win over Pakistan's Asghar Ali Changezi.

It was a night to forget for Karachi's traveling contingent as both of 3GMMA's fighters as well as the unattached Ashfaq Cool lost their fights to finish with an aggregate 3-0 record.

The MMA spectacle, thought of by some as the best ever put together in the country, was also watched by Inzamamul Haq, Mushtaq Ahmed and Muhammad Irfan of the cricket fame, while MMA legend Marcos Oliveira had also flew in from Abu Dhabi for the event.