“The human addiction to entertainment through suspense and danger never dies”

Two opponents face each other, poised to strike, keenly watching the other’s moves. They circle the ring and at the first sign of a skillful move, the crowd erupts in excitement. This scene could well have been played out in an ancient Roman amphitheater or at the Hellenic games, but continues today in mixed martial arts shows around the world. Indeed, the human addiction to suspense, danger and entertainment never dies.
In India, combat sport has its history noted in the ancient texts, beginning with the Dhanurveda, and the epics like the Mahabharata. The oldest form of organized unarmed fighting in South Asia is malla-yuddha, also known as kusthi or wrestling. There are many narratives describing the gods engaged in duels, and even boxing has been mentioned in the Vedas.
Southern India’s most popular contribution to Asian martial arts is kalaripayattu, which involves strikes, kicks, grappling, preset forms, healing methods and also weaponry. Organized combat culture – some even involving women – survived through the Middle Ages, the Mughal Era and the Maratha period, but underwent a decline under colonial rule. However, it persisted in the back lanes and continues in various traditional styles across the country.




With western influence came borrowed styles of combat, including karate, taekwondo, judo and others that are fairly popular among a sub-culture of martial arts enthusiasts. Despite the required skill level and global competitions involved, all have failed to entice the masses in a way the ancient Roman gladiator duels did.
Only 25 years ago, mixed martial arts (MMA) began taking over the US through the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Influences and references have appeared in pop culture from as far back as Bruce Lee’s film ‘Enter The Dragon’, and continued to the Mortal Kombat video games franchise, and the Academy Award nominated ‘Warrior’ a few years ago.
Combat Cage Fight (CCF) is a unique venture in India, which brings together the technicality of various self-defense skills with the pulsating vibe of a world-class nightclub experience. It is a safe, regulated, competitive sport that involves a combination of martial arts techniques within the restrictions of a confined space.
In the first year, I took on this marathon task of launching and organizing the now-successful Fight Nights with no investor support or help from an entertainment/sports management company. It proved a roaring success, not only in terms of entertainment sport for the spectators, but also in terms of a platform for India’s fighters to showcase their skills. Now we have completed 4 shows in one year on a small scale with about 1500 attendees each show, with the support from the Goa Tourism & The Tourism Department of Goa we were able to home grow this in Goa not only as a product of tourism but of sport. Also with changing the format slightly to other MMA events and adapted the rules so that its more appealing to a family audience that tourism of Goa appreciates.



Over the course of 12 months, CCF organized and hosted four thrilling shows, featuring international fighters and women’s bouts. Each Fight Night consistently succeeds in holding the attention of the fans, maintains quality and ups the ante in entertainment. The regularity of its occurrence gives India’s best fighters added reason to follow their passion and train hard to showcase their skills at a successful MMA league in the country.
Leading companies are looking to associate with CCF to gain momentum among the young, upper-middle class who are discovering this new entertainment sport.
Currently, CCF is planning on going Pan India working in association with Percept Live and is looking forward to high-octane entertainment and thrilling bouts in 2016.

About the Author
Sinead McManus is the CEO and Founder of Combat Cage Fight. She is Irish and is settled in Goa for over a decade.