Pakistan’s first-ever international female Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Fighter, Anita Karim, defeated Italy’s Adriana Fusini on Friday at Bangkok’s iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Thailand.
The Girl from Hunza Valley made the nation proud with a remarkable win.
The MMA fighter has previously won many accolades at local and international levels, the athlete emerged victorious at the Pakistan Grappling Challenge during the 2017-18 season, where she won 7 gold medals and 1 silver medal to her name.
She started her international career as a mixed martial arts fighter in 2018 when she narrowly lost by a margin of 1-0 to New Zealand’s MMA fighter Nyrene Crowley at the ‘One Warrior Series 2’ event which was held in Singapore.
That defeat is one of the only two losses in her international career which stands at 7 competitive fights so far.
ANITA KARIM WINS AT ONE FRIDAY FIGHTS 49! 🇵🇰👏
Pakistan's first international female MMA fighter beat Adriana Fusini of Italy at the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Americana Lock did the trick as the 'Arm Collector' collects another arm! #onefridayfights47 pic.twitter.com/WqphFu7Cfh
— Muneeb Farrukh (@Muneeb313_) January 26, 2024
Her second loss came against Dutch MMA athlete Noelle Grandjaen during the event of ‘Descendants of the Empire 2’ in Bangkok, Thailand, which was held in March 2022.
Karim,27, has registered 5 victories at the international level as a Pakistani MMA Fighter and her victory against Fusini on Friday night was another feather in the cap of her glittering career.
The Pakistani athlete achieved this feat in the weight category of ‘Women’s Atomweight’ and the match lasted for one round in which Anita Karim defeated her opponent in just 2 minutes and 20 seconds forcing her to submission with a keylock. This was her first victory at the event.
She has three brothers, who are all MMA fighters, Uloomi Karim, Ehtisham Karim, and Ali Sultan, who are all MMA fighters hailing from Gilgit. The family has been very supportive of her career and has also set up an MMA training center by the name of Fight Fortress which was one of the first MMA-oriented training facilities in Pakistan.
