Dhant Knocks Out Koren; Becomes MFN Bantamweight Champion 

Top Nepali MMA prospect Rabindra Dhant knocked out India’s Chungreng Koren in the 3rd round to become the MFN Bantamweight Champion at MFN 17 on August 2nd in Noida. With Dhant dominating much of the first two rounds in both stand up and the ground, referee Marc Goddard brought a stop to the fight within the first minute of the third as Koren fell to the ground after eating a barrage of punches from Dhant.

Koren’s most threatening moment of the night came at the very end of the second round when he caught Dhant in a d’arce choke before they were separated by the bell. The card featured 13 bouts in total. India’s Sonam Zomba beat Russian Anna Safeeva by unanimous decision to win the vacant women’s strawweight championship in the night’s only other title fight.

Exhausted, elated and emotional in the post fight interview, Dhant thanked his coach Diwiz Piya Lama for his contribution and Jackie Shroff, the husband of MFN owner Ayesha Shroff, for vouching for him to fight at MFN. Moving to an 9-1 record with the victory, Dhant becomes the first Nepali Mixed Martial Arts world champion in any weight class and joins Abiral Ghimire, the current HEAT middleweight champion at K-1, as the only professional title holders in combat sports from Nepal.

The belt firmly moves Dhant to the very top, both bantamweight and pound for pound, of South Asian MMA and in the path of opportunities to compete in the world’s biggest promotions like the UFC, where multiple former MFN champions have fought.