MUMBAI: Leveraging the growing popularity of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and in an attempt to give untold stories an opportunity to reach out to Indian viewers, MX Player’s content arm, MX Studios now brings for its viewers India’s first MMA Reality Series – Kumite 1 Warrior Hunt. Hosted by MMA enthusiast and Hindi cinema superstar Suniel Shetty, the MX Studios Original, Kumite 1 Warrior Hunt will witness 16 top male and female MMA athletes compete for a title while being trained by renowned MMA coaches – Bharat Khandare and Pawan Maan. The announcement was made in the presence of MX Player, Chief Operating Officer, Nikhil Gandhi, Suniel Shetty, Toyam Sports Limited, CMD, Mohamedali Budhwani and renowned sport personalities Mahavir Singh Phogat, Khali & Ritu Phogat. Kumite1 Warrior Hunt will stream exclusively on MX Player starting 12th February, 2023.
Produced in partnership with Toyam Sports Limited, Kumite1 Warrior Hunt has roped in SATSport News as the Title Sponsor. The series aims to build a stronger MMA community and the brands supporting the athletes includes Ryders, Aquitein, FITTR (Given Rs 50ooo to each fighter and has onboarded all trainers on the FITTR APP), Multifit (Provided employment to all the fighters with an assured Income) and Body First (Given lifetime nutrition support to all contestants).
Host and MMA enthusiast, Suniel Shetty said, I have too much to take home. I hope Kumite1 Warrior Hunt is the bridge to make wrestling a household name in India. I truly believe that this sport has the potential to become the biggest in India that could easily take over football and cricket. Martial Arts is a large part of who I am even before I became an actor. Hats off to MX Player, Toyam Sports’ Mohamedali Budhwani, Endemol Shine and my brand partners including FITTR, Multifit, Body First, Ryders and Aquitein, for helping me give back to the sport with jobs, nutrition and training facilities for their lifetime. The emotion, the struggle, what the contestants want to achieve, their human stories and their humble background adds to the beauty of the show. My India is unstoppable. These are the heroes.I take inspiration from these contestants and this is just the beginning!”
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Honouring the presence of India’s renowned sporting legends at the launch of Kumite1 Warrior Hunt, Suniel added that “It was a pleasure to have ‘The little gentle giant, Khali, Guru Mahavir Singh Phogat because ‘Guru se hi sab shuru hota hai toh Jeet guaranteed hai’ and Ritu Phogat who is ‘such a talented girl to conquer the world of women’s wrestling’.”
Commenting on the launch, MX Player, Chief Operating Officer, Nikhil Gandhi, said “At MX Studios, we create innovative and engaging branded content to meet the contemporary entertainment needs of our viewers. We have partnered with Toyam Sports to present Kumite1 Warrior Hunt as we wanted MMA fans to find new and unique ways to connect with the sport, reflect the fighters competitive spirit and to give them an unprecedented view of what it takes to be in this business. After the phenomenal success of Dharavi Bank, we are privileged to have Suniel Shetty as the host of the series. MMA is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and this series is our foray into sports based content.”
The Champions of ‘Kumite 1 Warrior Hunt’ will receive a cash prize of USD 5000 along with an exclusive 3 years contract and runner-ups will get one year contract. The winners will also get an opportunity to be trained Internationally to gain exposure with the best athletes abroad and represent ‘Team India’ in ‘K 1 Asian Championship’ in mid-2023 in UAE. Speaking about the same, Mohamedali Budhwani, CMD said, “Toyam Sports Ltd. (TSL), synonymous with Kumite 1 League (K1L) in India, aspires to revolutionize and popularize MMA in India, and to give a platform to the vast untapped potential in the country. Our unique web series, ‘Kumite 1 Warrior Hunt: Season1’, is being released and we remain confident that this series will make waves across the country. Our confidence stems from our association with the bluest of blue-chip companies for the production of this series. With MX player for showcasing the series, the series will be produced by a known sports content production house Oneway Films Pvt. Ltd. and line produced by none other than EndemolShine India, which ranks amongst the top reality content production houses in the country and hosted by Bollywood actor and fitness icon Suniel Shetty. We, at TSL, believe that Kumite 1 Warrior Hunt will help promote MMA in a big way. Warrior Hunt will manage to create a large pool of talent in the country; many of whom, we believe, will go ahead and proudly represent our country on international platforms.”
The MMA fighters from various parts of India who have been selected through several rounds of auditions for a title while being trained by renowned MMA coaches – Bharat Khandare and Pawan Maan are Rekha Choudhary, Monika Kiran Ghag, Priyanka Jeet Toshi, Heena Ali sher Shaikh, Lakhi Das, Harpreet Kaur, Shalu Sharma Kiran Singh, Siddharth Chandanshive, Mehdi Nasiri, Pradeep Hooda, Suraj Bahadur, Sameer Janjhotra, Sohail Khan, Krishna Payasi and Neitso Angami.
The six-episode series will give viewers a first-hand insight into the hardships faced by these athletes in their MMA journey with stories of survival, passion and courage, thus making the series extremely relatable. This series further showcases the hardships and emotions that MMA fighters deal with while balancing their personal lives and their desire to participate in MMA tournaments.
