Surbala Laishram and Naorem Dinesh of KOI Combat Academy looking for sponsors

Surbala Laishram and Naorem Dinesh from KOI Combat Academy are eager to make a mark on the International MMA stage. Both the fighters have qualified for the upcoming IMMAF – WMMAA World Championships which is scheduled to take place in Bahrain in November.

Despite being a force to reckon with in the domestic scene, Surbala and Naorem are now faced with a huge hurdle in their attempt to make India proud: Sponsorship.

The MMA stars along with their coach Vishal Seigell are actively on the lookout for sponsors that can help them get to the World Championship but time is running out on the team.

The impressive resumes

Both Surbala and Noream have impressive resumes to showcase. Hailing from humble backgrounds, these two have managed to make their own space in the Indian MMA scene. While Naorem currently holds an amateur record of 7-0 to his name, Surbala is 5-1 in her amateur career and unbeaten ever since she moved to KOI Combat.

The most recent success story for the 22-year-old Surbala came at the second edition of X1 International Women’s Fight Night where she got the better of Reshma Sakpal. Reshma, who had won the 4-Women Strawweight Tournament in the first X1 International Women’s Fight Night, was stopped by Surbala in the first round.

For Surbala, this high profile win came on the back of a successful outing at the Bengaluru Open MMA Championship where she clinched gold. Interestingly, she had won two gold medals in the Asian BJJ championship as well. She was also adjudged the best fighter at the Bengaluru Open MMA championship.

Speaking of the Bengaluru Open MMA championship, Naorem also had a solid outing at the event. He came out winning Gold in the Men’s Flyweight category and subsequently qualified for the World Championships. Prior to this, he got the silver medal in the Asian BJJ Championship and had won Gold at the AIMMAF National Championshipships.

The KOI Combat Family

While the achievements of these athletes speak for themselves, what stands out behind the scenes is the KOI Combat Family.

For the uninitiated, KOI Combat was started by coach Vishal Seigell and Indian MMA star Roshan Mainam. Surbala and Noarem are currently sponsored by Vishal and Roshan including lodging, communication studies, food, travel and competition fee among others. But since the team is self-funded, they have been running into some financial strains.

And this is now a hurdle in making the nation proud at the International stage.

How you can help

You can either help the team find a sponsor or you can support the fighters and their journey in making India proud by contributing directly to their bank accounts which are provided below.

Surbala Laishram:

• Name: Laishram Surbala Devi
• Bank: SBI
• Account No: 33323304689
• IFSC: SBIN0004461

Noarem Dinesh:

• Name: Naorem Yaika Singh (Father of Naorem)
• Bank: United Bank of India
• Account No: 0256010661966
• IFSC: UTBIOKAK345

Vishal Seigell

• Name: Vishal Seigell
• Bank: HDFC
• Account No: 13601530005482
• IFSC Code: HDFC0000053

The KOI Combat academy team can be found at koicombatacademy@gmail.com or 9718509776.

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