From a small village to the world stage, this fighter has shown what Kashmir can give to the nation.
Suliman Saith
Some stories need no decoration. The facts alone are enough. The story of Owais Yaqoob is one of them. He is a professional MMA fighter from Murran village in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir. He is the first professional MMA fighter from Pulwama. He is among the first from the whole of Jammu and Kashmir. And on August 1, 2026, he proved once again that he belongs among the best.
That night, in Burgas, Bulgaria, Owais faced Delyan Georgiev at BRAVE CF 107. Georgiev was unbeaten. He was fighting at home. He is linked to the camp of world champion Ilia Topuria. The crowd was behind him. None of it mattered. Owais stopped him with punches in the first round. The home crowd went quiet. It was his third straight win in BRAVE Combat Federation. His record now stands at six wins and one loss.
This is not luck. This is proof.
The Long Road
Owais was born in 1998 in Murran, Pulwama. He started martial arts around 2012. He began with Thang Ta, the Manipuri martial art. Then he moved to Taekwondo. Year after year, he trained. Year after year, he won.
Look at the numbers. Eleven national gold medals. Six national silver medals. Seventeen gold medals at the state and Union Territory level. Titles like “Best Fighter Boy” and “Champion of Champions” in 2018. A bronze medal in full-contact Eskrima at the WEKAF World Championship in the Philippines in 2022. Three national amateur MMA titles before he ever turned professional.
No one gifted him these medals. He earned each one. For years, he was proving himself while few people watched. That is the hardest kind of work.
The Professional Test
In 2023, Owais turned professional with Matrix Fight Night, India’s biggest MMA promotion. His first fight ended in a loss. Neeraj Panghal caught him in a guillotine choke in the third round. Many careers end after a first defeat. The fighter loses heart. The doubters get loud.
Owais did the opposite. He went back to work. Since that night, he has not lost. Five straight wins. He beat Mohammad Azim Mokhlis by decision. He beat Amanzhol Khaisa in Kazakhstan. He stopped Shetty Pratik Sadashiv in the second round in Panchkula. Then came the big stage.
In September 2025, at BRAVE CF 98 in Zhengzhou, China, he finished Ian Paul Lora in the first round. It was the first win ever by a Jammu and Kashmir fighter in BRAVE CF. History, written in under two minutes. In December 2025, in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, he stopped Mehmet Can Tasdoven with a knee and punches. Again in the first round. Then came Bulgaria, and the win over Georgiev.
Four of his six wins have come by knockout or TKO. He does not just win. He finishes.
Trained by the Best
Talent needs the right teachers. Owais found them. He trains with the American Kickboxing Academy and Team Khabib. His coaches include Khabib Nurmagomedov, one of the greatest fighters of all time, and Javier Mendez, one of the sport’s finest coaches. He has trained at the Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov School in Dagestan, alongside champions like Islam Makhachev. He sharpened his wrestling at Indian Top Team in Chandigarh. He worked on his striking and footwork in Indonesia.
Khabib himself has publicly praised his progress. That praise is not given easily. It is given to fighters who work. Owais has one stated goal for the future. He wants to fight in the UFC. Given his record, that dream now looks like a plan.
Proof for Jammu and Kashmir
Owais is proof of what the youth of Jammu and Kashmir can do. Not long ago, this area was known for a different reason. Pulwama was prone to terrorism. Its name was tied to violence and fear. Young lives were lost to the gun. Mothers lived in worry. The world knew the district only through bad news.
Look at it now. The same soil has given India a national pride. A boy from Murran carries the tricolour into world arenas. Cameras follow him for his fists, not for conflict. This change tells us one simple truth. Peace is always a blessing, for all. When the guns fall silent, talent gets its chance. When fear goes, dreams grow. Owais is living proof of that. He shows that a boy from Pulwama can stand in a cage in China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, or Bulgaria, and win.
And he has not kept his success to himself. In 2015, he founded the Lion’s Den Martial Arts Academy in Pulwama. He has trained more than 200 young people there. Several of his students have competed and won medals at the national level. He has spoken openly about using sport to guide the youth away from negative influences. He is not just a fighter. He is a builder. Every medal his students win is proof that his path can be copied.
Proof for India
Owais fights with the Indian flag. He carries it proudly into arenas across the world. He is ranked among the top active lightweights from India and South Asia. Some have called him India’s MMA Fighter of the Year for 2025. Indian MMA is still young. It needs proven names to grow. Owais is now one of them. His win in Bulgaria was not just his win. It was a win for Indian combat sports.
The Lesson
The story is simple. A village boy picked a hard sport. He lost his first professional fight. He refused to quit. He trained with the best. He now beats unbeaten fighters in their own homeland.
Nothing here is a claim without proof. The medals exist. The record exists. The finishes exist. Owais Yaqoob has already proved himself, for Pulwama, for Jammu and Kashmir, and for India. The next chapter, perhaps in the UFC, is his to write. On current form, no one should bet against him.
