Pakistan, India take their battle into the cage

Bitter rivals’ MMA fighters will square up in Bahrain on BRAVE CF's main card Friday

KARACHI: Arch-rivals Pakistan and India will renew their heated and historic sporting rivalry in Bahrain on November 17 when MMA fighters Haider Farman and Atif Mohammed Khadim clash in a strawweight bout on the Brave CF 9's preliminary card.

Haider (4-2), representing Pakistan, is a starlet out of Islamabad's famous Team Fight Fortress, which has previously produced established scrapers in Uloomi Karim Shaheen and Ahmed Mujtaba.

The 21-year-old is coming off a defeat though and will be hoping to get back to winning ways against India's Atif (1-3).

Not only do both fighters have the same age and 5’3 height, they have both been defeated by the same fighter in their last fight; Philippines' Jomar Pa-ac being the bruiser who roughed up both Haider and Atif.

While Haider was soundly beaten in his unanimous-decision defeat to Pa-ac, in his defence he had taken the fight on short notice and was visibly smaller than the Filipino.

Atif, too, fell short where Haider did, but he would take solace in the fact that his was a split-decision defeat.

That defeat for Haider ended a three-fight winning streak but didn't hurt his burgeoning reputation in Pakistan's fight fraternity.

Atif, meanwhile, has had a tough going so far in his pro career, but his 1-3 record doesn't do justice to his moxie.

Hence, he may already have three defeats on his resume, but those who know him know that he has the fastest hands in the division, making him a threat from range.

Pakistan is going slightly MMA mad

Despite having an inferior record, Atif — who also goes by the moniker The Hawk — doesn't feel threatened by his Pakistani opponent in any way.

In fact, the Indian sees Haider as nothing more than a minor bump in his surefire path to greatness. "He [Haider] is simply someone who is standing in my way and who needs to be removed to get the win," Atif told The Express Tribune. "My plan is to constantly put pressure on him, grind and beat him on my way to a KO/TKO win."

Haider was slightly more courteous in his evaluation of his opponent but as expected backed himself to come out on top.

"My opponent is considered the fastest puncher in Brave Combat Federation [and rightly so]," said the Islamabad resident. "He is fast and strong but not stronger than me. I will prove that on the 17th. God willing, I am going to win."

A Pakistan-India battle has every potential of turning into a reckless punch-up, but Haider's coach Ali Sultan says that will probably not be the case.

"This is an Indo-Pak fight so we have to be careful and technical," he said. "We will not take any chances and avoid all risks. We just want to win this fight. It doesn’t matter whether it comes by the way of knockout, submission or even if it goes the distance."

The fight will take place at around 7pm PST.