Priya Sharma speaks about her first Pro victory in IFL and the women's MMA in India

Priya "The Catwoman" Sharma

Indian amateur MMA star Priya Sharma recently won her pro fight debut in a dominating manner with a unanimous decision victory at the International Fighters League (IFL), Mumbai event. Priya who represents "Team Gavali" has been a notable name in the Indian Amateur scene and is all set repeat the same feat as a pro fighter.

She has won the National MMA Champion and won the National BJJ title multiple times in the past. "The Catwoman" spoke with Sportskeeda about her latest win and the MMA scene in India for women at large.

Here are the excerpts of our conversation.

How was your experience as a pro fighter fighting in IFL?

It was a great experience to fight at international fighters league. They were very professional in their dealings, I know few of the officials and people who were working in the league before, so I knew that there will be no politics involved as we hear in some other leagues.

As an amateur fighter, it was hard for me to find a pro debut, but I am really thankful to IFL for the opportunity they have given me.

Did you anticipate the fight to go like this? What was your prediction ahead of the fight?

As I have learned from my coaches I always stick to the game plan and techniques which we drilled thousands of time in training, my opponent was a pro Muay Thai fighter and had a good experience of BJJ as well, I was prepared for any scenario which can happen in the cage, I knew my takedowns and my clinch will be the key to shut her striking because I have been training BJJ and wrestling under great coaches like Chaitanya Gavali and YadwinderSingh. Also, I trained in Punjab for this fight in an Akhada ( Sant Baba Pyare Singh) Hafasabad.

As a woman who is a conditioned veteran in the amateur fighting scene in India. How was this experience as a pro fighter for you? And how is it different from the amateur scene for women?

In India, women's MMA isn't that popular yet, because we don't have enough competitors. Men's categories are far more favorable by the crowd and promoters. In amateur tournaments, we see new faces every time but in a few months, they disappear. I don't think because its tough sport they quit, but its because they don't get proper guidance,

We still follow the traditional system where we don't want our guru to get upset or feel that we don't trust his teaching that is the reason we never speak that you don't feel improve at all. Whereas in foreign countries we see people cross training in every gym to collect knowledge not because they can't learn in their gym but to improve more, find new training partners.etc.

We need smaller BJJ tournaments, open mats, free sparrings where fighters feel comfortable training with other teams and learn, Our target is to fight outside India and make the country proud not fight each other to prove nothing but ego

How was your training before this fight and what changed in this camp?

I had 6 weeks to prepare for this fight, so everything was planned, my coach Chaitanya Gavali designed my camp, I was used to doing 3 min rounds for my amateur fights , but pro is different rounds are longer, needed to learn to pace my self, I had a wonderful time training in Punjab.

My close friend Yadwinder Singh had invited us to train there, with some good wrestlers from mud pit wrestling, I learned new techniques from them, their Conditioning routines and mental toughness.

Chaitanya Gavali is one of the biggest names in Indian MMA, how is it to train alongside him? How much of an impact was Chaitanya in your fighting career?

Chaitanya Gavali is a mentor to me, coach, a training partner. He inspired me to fight again when I decided to quit after my SFL challengers show.

He has been guiding me and teaching me from quite a long time. Many people don't know that Chaitanya is multiple title holder in two different weight divisions abroad, he is first and only Indian to do that.

He is one of the sharpest minds in Indian MMA, he explains and teaches small details in order to understand the techniques. I have been very fortunate to train under him.

What's next for you as a fighter? Do you have any names for your next fight?

I am planning to stay very active this year with at least 3 to 4 pro fights, I have no one on my list, my goal is not to fight easy opponents and make record faster, I want to face high-level competition to get better as a martial artist. and put India's women MMA on the map.

The Sportskeeda team thanks Priya Sharma for taking the time to speak with us and wish her the very best in her upcoming fights. Catch all updates from "The Catwoman" on her official Instagram handle.