The BOSM English Press (BEP) sat down with Kartik Yadav, the captain of the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) team, to know more about their preparation for BOSM ’26. 

Kartik started by noting that it had only been a year since the MMA team had come into being. Previously, it had been known as the boxing team, which expanded its scope to include other forms of fighting and martial arts, and hence became the MMA team. In this edition of BOSM, there would be two events related to fighting and martial arts—Full Contact, which is pure MMA, and Newaza, a jiu-jitsu specific event.

Talking about their preparations for BOSM, Kartik mentioned that the team trained twice a day—morning and evening. They had prepared their training environment to simulate the ground conditions that they would encounter during BOSM. They had also ordered new equipment for the team, which would greatly enhance their practice sessions. 

Kartik explained that MMA, as a sport, includes many different fighting styles—boxing, kickboxing, kung fu, karate, Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu and many more. Each of these fighting styles has different practice drills. They had been training ‘double leg takedown’ for wrestling, ‘o goshi’ for judo and flexibility for kickboxing. 

Moreover, he noted that last year, they had sent a seven-member team to Jaipur for the Rajasthan State Jiu-Jitsu Championship, where they had won six gold and one silver medal. They also had a remarkable performance in the last edition of BOSM. 

Kartik highlighted that the MMA team was one of the most committed and disciplined teams on campus and that he felt it was their biggest strength. Even when not practising, the members often hung out together and discussed the sport, which had strengthened their bond and boosted the collective morale. He added that they had conducted a workshop at the beginning of the semester and would be recruiting juniors post a probationary period. This time, the juniors were enthusiastic about participating and training for the sport. Kartik further added that some of them had been learning at ‘a better rate’ than all seniors. 

Speaking about the challenges he had encountered, Kartik stated that, with MMA being a specialised sport, there were not enough qualified coaches available to train the team in different forms of martial arts. They had also been short on equipment and resources, and that had adversely affected their practice with BOSM just around the corner. 

He remarked that they had been on decent terms with the Sports Union, the CoSSAcn, the Sports Secretary and the SFC. On a parting note, Kartik urged all the attendees to watch the MMA matches and have a memorable time at BOSM 2026.