Indian combat sports expert Siddharth Singh breaks into top 10 rankings in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Asia

New Delhi, May 11: One of India's pioneers in the field of MMA and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Siddharth Singh, is the only Indian player who possesses an unmatched 7th rank in Asia in AJP which stands for Abu Dhabi Pro Jiu-Jitsu League. It is one of the greatest leagues of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the world.

He achieved this feat after he bagged silver in AJP Tour Dubai International Pro in the 69kg category recently. Last year Siddharth Singh also won a Silver at UAE Pro BJJ World Championships to become the only Indian ever to medal in the entire history of the sport in this league

To realise his dream of making MMA and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) popular in India and become a face of MMA in India, Siddharth quit a lucrative job in the UK. After watching the lack of proper MMA gyms in India, he set up a training centre called Crosstrain Fight Club in Delhi and now wishes to turn it into a global brand. Crosstrain Fight Club has five academies in North India and more than 500 students enrolled.

Siddharth has represented India at many International tournaments and currently holds the incomparable record of being the only Indian to be an Internationally competitive Brown Belt. He is a 9 time Indian BJJ and Submission Grappling Champion.

He is also India's only ADCC Taiwan, British BJJ, and South Asian Grappling Champion. Siddharth also reached the semi-finals of the ACB World championships in Russia in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

He is also Muay Thai Khan 16 graded instructor which makes him a beast (the maximum an instructor can achieve in his/her lifetime is Khan 20).

While speaking about his top-ten finish in the latest AJP rankings, Siddharth told MyKhel, "It's crazy to be ranked in the top 10 in Asia for someone like me. 99 per cent of my Jiu-Jitsu is self-taught and that too I have been based in India throughout my Jiu-Jitsu journey."

"Initially, I did not even believe I could compete against foreign fighters. However, the more I competed against them the more I realised that we as Indians are not less than anyone else. We might not have Black Belt instructors here in India to teach us like most other countries, but we Indians can achieve anything if we put our minds and hearts into it," Siddharth - who also runs a podcast called 'Lockdown with Sid' on YouTube and Spotify - added further.

Narrating his journey and the success that came his way, the MMA fighter said, "The more I competed, the more I started winning, and fast forward to now where I have an International ranking and am recognised by foreign fighters. It's a great feeling. The work is not done yet. I have 2 world championship Silver medals, I won't stop till India gets its first Gold at the Worlds," he signed off.