Pakistan’s representation isn’t typically outstanding at combat sports outings, but at recent Karate Combat events the country’s flags have waved proudly.
That’s due to Shahzaib Rind. He’s perhaps not a household name internationally quite yet, but his accomplishments are well-known amongst those back home.
The Karate Combat lightweight champion, Rind said the eye from Pakistan has surprised him and been quite humbling. He’s long felt supported but it surely was taken to the following level when he won title gold in September and went back to the locker room to retrieve his phone.
“Everyone was messaging me: the president of Pakistan, the prime minister of Pakistan, the chief minister,” Rind recently told MMA Junkie. “Everybody is telling me congratulating me, tweeting me. It was a giant thing. It was only a dream. Everyone was calling me. I just blew up.”
The party was only getting began. When Rind returned back to his homeland, things were even crazier.
“(I) went back to Pakistan and had no idea after I went to the airport I saw 1000’s of individuals were watching and waiting for me on the airport,” Rind said. “It was early within the morning. The chief minister, the top of the state was there. All the politicians were there. The roads were blocked for me. Everyone was waiting because I used to be about to cross the road. Town was totally blocked and it was such a tremendous experience. I never had an experience like this. Everyone was coming to take selfies with me. They were so glad. It was a giant thing for them and me too. We won the world title. It’s the most important thing one can ever imagine. It was such a tremendous experience. This thing gives me more motivation to grow to be the best of all time. That is only the start. We now have a protracted method to go.”
In accordance with Rind, Pakistan has never laid claim to a native champion at his level of accomplishment. He’s proud to be the primary Pakistani world champion and hopes to pave the road for the following generation to understand they can also hold gold in the event that they put within the work.
“I’m the primary Pakistani world champion,” Rind said. “I made history and have become two-time world champion. You saw the flags that were all in that arena, because I’m representing my country. There are a whole lot of fighters who just fight for themselves. But I’m here for my country. I’m here to represent my country and I’m here to point out the world, the Pakistani people and the fighters from Pakistan, we should not lower than anyone. We will do anything. In Pakistan, in sports on the whole, we should not have a whole lot of athletes and we should not have a whole lot of big names. So it was my dream, after I got here to America, my first dream, to grow to be a Pakistani world champion and represent my country everywhere in the world and show the world we’ve got talent.
“We now have a whole lot of talent. We will do anything. It’s a giant message for everybody, especially for the children. They think because some people say Pakistan will not be a really developed country. Yes, that’s true. But we’ve got a whole lot of talent. We now have a whole lot of talent to supply. That’s why you saw a whole lot of Pakistani people. They’re so emotionally connected with me because I’m their fighter they usually love me. On a regular basis, if I’m going fight in Singapore, if I fight in any corner of the world, they can be here and they’ll support me all the time.”
Eventually, Rind plans to make his way over to MMA. He’s desirous to test his hand in a more popular combat sport, but has conditions. As a proud Karate Combat representative, he wants his first MMA bout to happen not in a cage – but within the pit.
“Yeah, I even have a fantastic idea about MMA,” Rind said. “I’d like to fight in MMA because I would like to… show the world what my skills are. I can do anything. … I’m one of the best representation of Karate Combat, so I would like to fight in MMA – but in Karate Combat. It’s going to be something latest. In Karate Combat, you see the Karate Combat pit. It’s different. Should you fight there with a former UFC world champion or whoever is best in MMA, I can fight them within the Karate Combat pit and it’s going to be amazing. Within the Karate Combat pit, MMA goes to be nasty because we don’t have anywhere to run. It’s a pit and you’ll be able to do a whole lot of stuff. It’s going to be a tremendous thing.”
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