Bashir Ahmad ( ur, بشیر احمد), (born October 12, 1982) is a Pakistani-American professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who is known as the "God-father of

Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan (or PAK MMA) is the premiere mixed martial arts (MMA) and martial arts promotion based in Pakistan that was created in December 2007 by Bashir Ahmad to promote martial arts (and martial sports such as boxing and w ...

". He is famous for being the pioneer of mixed martial arts in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. He is currently signed with

ONE Championship ONE Championship (formerly ONE Fighting Championship) is a Singaporean combat sports promotion. Founded on 14 July 2011 by entrepreneur Chatri Sityodtong and former ESPN Star Sports senior executive Victor Cui, its events have featured mixed ...

Background

Bashir Ahmad was born in the city of

Faisalabad Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur ( Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city, but was renamed in 1977 in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is the 3rd largest city of Pak ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, but moved to

Great Falls, Virginia Great Falls is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2010 census was 15,427, an increase of 80.5% from the 2000 census. History Colonial farm settlements began to form in the area a ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, with his parents when he was three years old. In 2002, he pursued a career in the U.S. military, joining the

Virginia National Guard The Virginia National Guard consists of the Virginia Army National Guard and the Virginia Air National Guard. It is part of the Government of Virginia though the National Guard across the United States is mostly funded by the federal government ...

. In 2004, he was deployed to

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

when the war broke out. He was stationed in

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...

, working as a

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

medic in a team that disarmed explosives. Ahmad started training in

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

around 2005, when the boom of MMA was taking place in North America. He came to

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, Pakistan in 2007 with the aim of promoting MMA in his native country. After training local kids jiu jitsu for some time, he went to Thailand for a year to train in

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...

. On his return to Pakistan in 2009, he set up a small MMA training gym in his own apartment. The apartment was so filthy that he named it 'The Slaughterhouse'. In 2012, Ahmad opened a proper gym named "Synergy MMA Academy" in Lahore which has grown to become one of the biggest gyms in the country.

PAK MMA

Bashir Ahmad laid the foundations of Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan with his arrival in Pakistan in 2007. The purpose of Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan was to promote all martial arts and combat sports in the country while mainly focusing on MMA. Working on his purpose, he went around whole country organizing seminars mostly for BJJ and MMA and helped in conducting the very first MMA fighting events.

ONE Championship career

Bashir Ahmad was the first Pakistani to compete in MMA at an international level when he made his debut in

by fighting

Shannon Wiratchai Shannon Wiratchai ( th, ชนนภัทร วิรัชชัย; born November 14, 1988) is Thai mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight division. He was last signed to ONE Championship, where he also previously competed as ...

at ONE FC: Kings and Champions on April 5, 2013. Ahmad got a cut in the first round but doctors let the fight continue and Ahmad won his promotional debut via unanimous decision. At ONE FC: Champions and Warriors, he lost to Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt

Bruno Pucci Bruno Pucci (born July 23, 1990) is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner who holds a black belt and is best known for winning gold in the featherweight division at the 2009 and 2010 No Gi Grappling World Championships. In total, Puc ...

by submission via rear-naked choke. He fought Tanaphong Khunhankaew at ONE FC: Roar of the Tigers and won by submitting him with a

rear-naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC) is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word "naked" in this context suggests that, unlike other strangulation techniques found in jujutsu/judo, this hold does not require the use of a keikogi ...

. In ONE Championship: Valor of Champions, Bashir Ahmad stepped in to fight Amir Khan Ansari on a 3-day notice when

, Khan's original opponent, was injured. Bashir Ahmad lost that fight by TKO via doctor's stoppage. Bashir Ahmad was scheduled to fight Martin Nguyen at ONE Championship: Odyssey of Champions but the fight was cancelled when

Jadamba Narantungalag Jadamba Narantungalag (born December 16, 1975) is a Mongolian professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer and grappler who has fought for World Victory Road, K-1 MAX, Legend FC, Art of War Fighting Championship, and ONE Championship. Nar ...

couldn't appear to fight for the main title match and Martin Nguyen took his place. Bashir Ahmad submitted his Egyptian opponent Mahmoud Mohamed in 83 seconds at ONE Championship: State of Warriors Bashir Ahmad currently works as an executive in competition and matchmaking for

One Championship ONE Championship (formerly ONE Fighting Championship) is a Singaporean combat sports promotion. Founded on 14 July 2011 by entrepreneur Chatri Sityodtong and former ESPN Star Sports senior executive Victor Cui, its events have featured mixed ...

Shaheen Academy

Bashir Ahmad is an active advocatehttps://time.com/4249152/bashir-somchai-ahmad-mma-pakistan/ active advocate for using martial arts philosophy as a means for the betterment of at-risk youth. In 2015, he founded Shaheen Academy, a non-profit MMA gym and tutoring centre in Lahore, Pakistan. Shaheen is located in the middle of a large slum, Charrar Pind, and its aim is to use martial arts as a vehicle for building confidence, discipline and self-improvemnent in the youth of the slum. It provides free martial arts training and after-school tutoring for children. Bashir Ahmad holds an annual fundraiser for Shaheen and the academy runs entirely on donations.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 4–3 , Mahmoud Mohamed , Submission (heel hook) , ONE Championship: State of Warriors , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:23 ,

Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

, , - , Loss , align=center, 3–3 , Jimmy Yabo , KO (Punch) , ONE Championship: Tribe of Warriors , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:21 ,

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, Catchweight !58 lb) bout. , - , Loss , align=center, 3–2 , Amir Khan Ansari , TKO (Doctor's Stoppage) , ONE Championship: Valor of Champions , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:20 ,

Pasay Pasay, officially the City of Pasay ( fil, Lungsod ng Pasay; ), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, i ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, Catchwheight (150 lb) bout. , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Tanaphong Khunhankaew , Submission (rear-naked choke) , ONE Fighting Championship: Roar of Tigers , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:38 ,

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, , - , Loss , align=center, 2–1 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , ONE Fighting Championship: Champions & Warriors , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:13 ,

, , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 ,

, Decision (Unanimous) , ONE Fighting Championship: Kings and Champions , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Kallang Kallang is a planning area and residential town located in the Central Region of Singapore. Development of the town is centered around the Kallang River, the longest river in Singapore. Kallang Planning Area is bounded by Toa Payoh in the no ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Mohammad Arshad , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Pak Fight Club – PFC 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:26 ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmad, Bashir 1982 births American male mixed martial artists American emigrants to Pakistan American expatriate sportspeople in Thailand American Muay Thai practitioners American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu American people of Punjabi descent Living people Pakistani emigrants to the United States Pakistani male mixed martial artists Pakistani Muay Thai practitioners Pakistani practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Mixed martial artists from Virginia United States Army soldiers Martial artists from Punjab, Pakistan People from Great Falls, Virginia United States Army personnel of the Iraq War Virginia National Guard personnel Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu