PAK's first female MMA star Anita wins her first fight in ONE Championship: Warrior Series

Pakistan’s first ever female MMA fighter, Anita Karim, put on a technical performance and earned herself and her country a hard and smart fought unanimous decision victory over the very experienced Indonesian sensation Gita Suharsono.

The Islamabad-based fighter, who trains out of Fight Fortress in Islamabad, which was rated as the best MMA gym/training center in Pakistan by the PAK MMA. Coach Ali Sultan was also named "Coach of the Year" in Pakistan’s inaugural MMA awards giveaway.

Though her opponent had a good reach advantage, Anita’s south-paw striking caused problems for the Indonesian fighter. The Pakistan fighter inflicted decisive damage on her Indonesian counterpart on counterattacks and was declared victorious on score cards of all three judges.

Anita Karim runs her ring with a ruthless, firm grip and now holds a 1-1 MMA record. She previously lost her debut fight against Bali-based fighter Nyrene Crowley after initially knocking her down via a smashing left-hand strike. 

MMA is a relatively new sport in Pakistan but continues to grow at tremendous heights to which she said that she wanted to show the world that girls can fight too. “I wanted to beat the stereotypical thinking that girls are not strong enough.”

The ONE Warrior Series is an off-shoot series of ONE Championship, the biggest MMA promotion in Asia, and is run by Rich Franklin. The series goal is to “help identify and cultivate the legends of tomorrow.” Franklin himself is a three-time Mixed Martial Arts Middleweight World Champion, who has competed professionally for 13 years. He used his experience of the sport to elevate ONE Championship to new heights since joining as a Vice President in 2014.