FIRST PAKISTANI FEMALE MMA FIGHTER ANITA KARIM

Anita Karim is a Pakistani mixed martial artist. She is the first international female Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter from Pakistan to win multiple national and international-level bouts. Karim was born in Karimabad, Hunza Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, in a family of MMA fighters. Karim, along with her brothers, Uloomi Karim, Ehtisham Karim, and Ali Sultan, founded the MMA gym, “Fight Fortress”, which is one of the first MMA training centers in Pakistan.

Anita Karim is a bright pathway for all young audiences and shows that whatever the gender is male or female if you work hard you can achieve what you want to achieve,  and she became the first female MMA fighter in Pakistan. Anita is making Pakistan proud, and we got a chance to have an exclusive conversation with her. She tells us about her journey, her remarkable childhood, and the supportive family she has.

Recently Anita appear in web media and reveals her struggle to get her success, 

Anita Tell us a bit about you and your journey in this field.

Hello, thanks for you to cover for me and giving me chance to explain myself. I originally belong to Hunza in GB and started my 1st MMA mission 6 years ago almost in 2016 in Islamabad while I was doing my studies there. I competed in multiple national grappling events and then got an offer from ‘One Warrior Series, Singapore’ in 2018, to fight in their organization; that is when I made my MMA debut, becoming Pakistan’s first female MMA fighter. I have had five MMA fights, two Muay Thai fights, and multiple medals and honors in Brazilian Jiujitsu, and am still actively competing.

Tell us about your childhood.

From a very early age I got very strong support from my family, my Mother was very strict and follow a strict timetable like an army in my home.  Waking up at 4 AM and starting the day with cleaning the house, feeding and then milking the goats and cows, bringing firewood from the mountain, filling water from the stream, preparing breakfast, and then getting ready for school was a routine, so from a very early age, I have a very strong and disciplined lifestyle. When I was in school my father took me to the taekwondo academy cause he want to see me in a very strong form. so he was very strict on me to go to the academy on daily bases and keep a very close eye on my training. Then there came a point when boys would tease my friends, I would beat them up. So, maybe I developed an interest because there was a need for it.

Normally in Pakistan female, as a professional fighter is not in the main trend, how did your family respond when you told them about that?

One day my brother asked me to start training at a local gym for personal fitness and self-defense means, this brought me towards MMA fighting. One of my brothers, Uloomi Karim, was already fighting so my family was kind of open and accepting of the idea of me fighting as well. But unfortunately, there was not any MMA athlete in my city, how can train me.  So i have to start training with my brothers and of the male guys in my family.  Its my good luck that my parents and whole family stand in my support and give me the courage to start MMA as a career. My father was not convinced but, one day, when he put me in a headlock and I escaped from there and choked him unconscious, he knew that I wasn’t just wasting my time and started supporting me even more. 

Being Pakistan’s first female MMA Fighter, you must have faced a lot of barriers from society, how did you overcome them?

“I am blessed to have such a supportive family and the entire Gilgit- Baltistan region that any negativity comes my way, I walk through it with the help of all the support I have”

“I want to become a world champion and want to make a mark in the world that a Pakistani girl became a world champion in MMA “

Tell us About your achievements.

I won the One Warrior Series (OWS) on 28 February 2019, against Indonesia’s Gita Suharsono. I was awarded Rs. 100 000 by the Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, Hafeez-ur-Rehman. I was given a shield as appreciation for her representation of Pakistan by the Governor of Gilgit-Baltistan, Raja Jalal Hussain Maqpoon.

I also emerged victorious with 7 gold medals and 1 silver medal at the Pakistan Grappling Challenge (PGC) 2017-2018. I had the first success in her second Pro MMA fight against Gita Suharsono from Indonesia in One Warrior Series 4 under the flag of ONE Championship and then again unanimously won her match against Estonia’s Marie Ruumet in One Warrior Series 10.