These days, Nelson Paes is enthusiastic yet
nervous. After having a rather dry spell of action, this Goan featherweight MMA
fighter has now got a reason to smile. A new project slated to start by
mid-November, with the working title of ‘International Fight League of Goa’ has
brought good news to Nelson, who, in turn, is leaving no stone unturned to keep
himself physically fit. The MMA tournament that will see professional men and
women fighters from India and abroad compete for excellence for the first in Goa,
has indeed kept Nelson busy training hard, thereby making him one of the
contenders to watch out for.
Nelson’s early days saw him interested more
in sports than academics. Be it hockey, football or athletics, Nelson had a
keen interest in excelling in sport. However, later in his life, Nelson had to
dabble into multiple things to support himself financially – right from joining
the Merchant Navy to handling a couple of corporate jobs in metros like Mumbai
and Pune. Unable to find his true passion in life, a rather depressed Nelson
registered for dance classes in Pune, completely oblivious to the events that
were about to unfold in his life, changing his career path completely.
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On the first day of the dance class, the
dance instructor noticed a distracted Nelson take more interest in the
kickboxing classes that were being conducted in the same area. Eventually, it
was his dance instructor who recognised his interest in the contact sport and
advised Nelson to register for classes in kickboxing. Within a week of joining
the classes, Nelson took to the sport like fish to water. The adrenaline rush
of the contact sport got him hooked instantly. Soon enough, he was pitted to
fight against one of the most senior kickboxers whom Nelson knocked out in less
than a minute. Nelson then went on to specialise in Muay Thai and there was no
looking back.
In 2012, when India’s first and only
professional MMA tournament by the name of Super Fight League (SFL) started, a
tempted Nelson gave it a shot at the selections for the tournament. After
undergoing rigorous training for 2-4 months at the MMA bootcamp in Pune, Nelson
went to Nasik for the selections. Despite conceding defeat, Nelson’s style and
skill got him shortlisted as one of the 12 finalists, out of 110 fighters from
all over India. Things were going fine until, for some reasons, the tournament
shifted base to the US, leaving the fighters stranded until few weeks ago when
the news of the starting of a new MMA
fight league brought in hope.
